The Hunter Chapter 5

The Chase is On/Allies Part I

A/N: I'm sorry about not posting those chapters. There was a power outage where I live so I couldn't put out those chapters. Luckily the outage only lasted for a day or else it would've been a longer wait. Now enjoy as you read more of The Hunter.

Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson.

Third-Person POV

Thunder rumbled in the sky as an angry Zeus paraded around Olympus. He was constantly shouting profanities and insults about Theta's insolence and how he should be loyal to the Olympians.

It was previously a bright, sunny day but with Zeus rotten mood, the clouds thickened and block out the sun while causing a thunderstorm.

Major and minor gods alike cowered in fear as their king always became unstable when he was absolutely livid, and they became afraid of accidentally being struck by lightning.

Usually the king of the gods got over his anger after a matter of hours, but in this case Zeus' anger persisted for another three days after Ethan's trial. Everyone on the council grew more concerned by the hour as Zeus continued to grow more enraged as Theta was not found.

For the last few days, all of the gods searched aimlessly for their target. The Olympians were having the worst time as their domains were the biggest, so they had to put in more effort to peruse their domains.

Unfortunately for them, there was no trace of Theta to be found. However, the gods continued their search so they wouldn't get on Zeus' bad side.

Zeus muttered more curses under his breath as he reached his daughter Athena's temple. He slammed the door inside and stomped his way in, his steps echoing off the walls as he walked across the marble floor.

The goddess he was searching for was sitting at a desk in her back room, looking over files on her computer to try to find any information there was on the hunted. She had on a pair of reading glasses and was wearing a T-shirt and sweatpants, as she had been working nonstop since Theta's disappearance.

Athena was thoroughly engrossed in her research, tirelessly working to dig up information. She barely heard Zeus as he entered, however she did feel a negative shift in energy as he did.

"Have you found anything yet!" yelled Zeus as Athena nonchalantly looked up from her computer. She sighed and took of her glasses as she turned to look at her pissed-off father.

"No, I haven't," Athena started as Zeus' facial expression soured even more.

"There is almost no information on Theta, there isn't even any information on who his parents are. All we know is that he is a bounty hunter/assassin for hire and he only works for a paycheck. He only uses golden drachmas as his form of payment and he usually has people contact him through the shadows. Also once he is in contact with his clients, they don't find him, he finds them."

"Couldn't Hades just intercept the messages and relay them here? We could just set up a sting operation and obtain him that way," Zeus suggested. Athena just let out another breath of frustration before she answered him.

"Hades has already tried, but for some reason it won't work. Somehow our target has found a way to keep himself from being traced through the shadows. Whoever he is, he has a lot of skill if not even the God of the Underworld can use the shadows to find him," answered Athena.

Zeus let off a grunt of anger as he slumped into a nearby chair. The father-daughter pair both thought in silence as they tried to find a way to locate and capture Theta.

Athena POV

'Damn it,' I thought. 'Why did that asshat have to drag us into this. He should have just let Theta go on about his way but no, he had to get his panties in a bunch and escalate the situation.'

'Classic dad, leave it to him to get bent out of shape just because someone doesn't tell him something. For someone who is several millennia old, he sure acts like a child. I just need to think of a way to find Theta before dad gets more pissed.'

Zeus POV

'DAMN IT, DAMN IT, DAMN IT, DAMN IT, DAMN IT!' I thought as I stewed in my chair.

'If I don't find that bastard soon, I'm gonna blow a gasket! How dare he not bow down at my feet and tell me his identity. I am the king of the gods, my word is final and I should have all of the knowledge in the universe! FUCK HIM!'

As I silently raged in my chair, I didn't notice my most intelligent daughter come to a realization. She turned towards me and cleared her throat as I was air-strangling Theta. She cleared her throat yet again as I realized what I was doing. I slowly turned towards her as my face had a slightly reddish hue, and she tried her hardest to stifle a laugh.

"What do you want daughter?" I asked Athena as I still was raging but not as prevalent as I was. She just shook her head in disapproval and leaned forward in her seat.

"I was thinking, how about we use someone as skilled as Theta is to find him. They do say that in order to beat someone, you should beat them at their own game," replied Athena.

"So you are implying that in order to find that traitor we need to have our own hunter that is just as skilled, if not more skilled than Theta," I asked my daughter.

"Exactly," Athena replied.

I pondered her suggestion as I tried to think of other options. I gritted my teeth as I found that there was nothing else we could do after several moments of thinking to myself. Athena was just watching me, awaiting my response. I returned my gaze to her and gave her and answer.

"If we were to hire a hunter, who would it be? Even Artemis, the Goddess of the Hunt, can't find this man. Also if we are fighting fire with fire, the hunter should be able to use the shadows to his advantage."

We both quickly returned to thought as the next issue arose. As we sunk deeper into the planes of our minds, I couldn't help but feel my rage returning as I scowled. Athena noticed my shift in mood and let out another annoyed sigh. I disregarded her as I regressed deeper into my thoughts.

"Huh," Athena gasped after a while as I looked up at her with a quizzical expression on my face. She looked over at me in shock as she found the answer to my question.

"I know who can find Theta. Why didn't I think of that sooner?" she asked herself as I leaned closer, waiting for her to answer.

After a few moments of thought, my smartest daughter cleared her throat and said, "We should hire Thanatos to find him."

I leaned back in my chair and thought it over in my mind. Thanatos would be perfect. He is the physical embodiment of Death, so he could follow the trail that Theta lays. He would also be able to use the shadows to his advantage and maybe be able to intercept the letters between Theta and his clients, so he would have another way to locate the son of a bitch. All he'd need to do is find a way to capture him and bring him to Olympus, where he could finally be punished for his actions.

The more I thought about it, the more the idea appealed to me. Slowly a dark, twisted grin grew upon my face that gave Athena the chills.

"So what do you think," inquired Athena hesitantly as my Joker smile remained.

"I like it. So how will he capture him," I asked her.

"We could drug him by having Hecate and Hypnos design a potion to inject him with. We could also use a drop of the Lethe to make him forget who he is for a short time until Thanatos brings him to Olympus," she answered.

I just nodded in agreement as Athena turned back to her computer so she could arrange a meeting with the god of death and work out the finer details of the mission.

With that I flashed away to my own temple, murderous thoughts swimming through my head as I contemplated how I would punish Theta once I had him in front of me.

Third-Person POV

Standing in the shadows outside of the room where the ruler of the Olympians and the Goddess of Wisdom were talking was none other than Athena's daughter, Annabeth. The woman in question gritted her teeth as she listened in on the plot to capture Theta. Once she saw a flash brighten the room, she began to relax as Zeus was no longer near.

Annabeth wondered why she wasn't detected by neither her mother nor Zeus, but she figured that they were both too stressed out to notice any unwelcome people in their vicinity.

She slowly crept away from her mother's office and snuck out of Athena's temple. Once out she sprinted as fast as she could towards the elevator in hopes of warning Theta of what was to come.

Linebreak (One Week Later)

Percy POV

I was sitting on my bed cleaning my knives as I heard an eerie voice calling to me. I recognized it as a shadow, signaling that someone was trying to contact me. I looked over at it as the shadows crept from the corner where they were produced. It raised of from the floor in a dark cloud and then formed the message that said, 'MEET ME AT CENTRAL PARK AT 1:00 TOMORROW MORNING.'

I looked over at the alarm clock on my bedside table and it read, '11:59.' I instantly shot up from my bed and threw my armor back on. I threw my boots back on my feet and pulled my gloves and gauntlets on too as I connected them to my chestpiece. I threw my trench coat over myself then I felt everything growl with demonic power as my energy filled the pieces.

I grinned a little as a symbiote-like substance made from shadows slowly crept up my face and form my half mask. Once the process was complete, the ? symbol on the left pectoral of the chestplate radiated dark energy as it sucked in all light around it. This made me smile more, but it quickly vanished as I realized that I was running out of time.

'I could call the Grey Sisters but by the time they got here, I'd be late to the meeting,' I thought to myself.

'Damn, I guess I have to shadow-travel to make it there on time.' I walked to the corner of the room then I thought about Central Park. Once I did I walked into the shadows and let them take hold of me as I was taken to my destination.

Third-Person POV

Annabeth, who once again donned her cloak, walked through Central Park as the lamps guided her path. She looked around at the near pitch-black of the famous landmark in the early New York morning. Moths flew around the lamps, buzzing in circles as Annabeth watched them in fascination.

All around her, the familiar grass and wildlife of Central Park was shrouded in a mask of darkness, making them look rather creepy with the limited amount of light. She made her way to a lone bench underneath one of the lamps, which showed her the immediate area but cut off visibility after about fifteen feet.

She sat down and looked around for a quick moment, scanning the area for any spies or potential threats. Once she deemed the area clear, she relaxed a little and sat back on the bench

Annabeth snapped her fingers and the Mist covered her and formed the area to look as if nobody was there. As soon as she did, she turned around and was met with the half-covered face of Theta. She screamed in fright as she was shocked that she didn't detect his presence in the slightest.

Annabeth launched up from the bench while whipping out a Celestial Bronze knife from inside of her cloak. She then backed a few feet away from him as Theta stood unmoving, waiting for her to regain her composure.

Once she did, Annabeth sat back down on the bench though still uneasy from her surprise.

"What do you want?" Theta began. "You already paid me for the previous job, so there isn't a reason you should be contacting me. Unless you have another job where you require my services," he said coldly.

Annabeth started to nervously fidget and played with the edges of her cloak as she thought up her answer. She looked behind her to find that Theta was no longer there and was now leaning up against the lamp post.

She took a deep breath and then replied, "Zeus wants to capture you. He feels like you are a traitor for not obeying him, so he has sent the Olympians as well as the other gods to search for you."

Theta just blankly stared at her as Annabeth continued.

"He is also having my mother meet with Thanatos to hire him to hunt you down and take you to the council, where Zeus will determine your punishment. I'm only helping you because I feel that Zeus is wrong and that you are unjustly being treated. That's it"

As Annabeth finished, there was a short time of silence. The only sound was the moths flying around the lamps as neither of the two people spoke.

Suddenly the silence was broken as Theta let out a dark chuckle that shook Annabeth's bones to her core, since it didn't match his character at all. She looked at him like he was a crazy person as he continued to laugh for a few more moments.

"Really. That's all. His biggest reason for sending the entire Greek Pantheon after me was because I didn't tell him my identity. He's as immature as a petty middle-school girl that was arguing with a rival. He needs to grow up and act his fucking age instead of thinking that the entire world should bow at his feet. I can't even take this seriously," said Theta after he recovered from his small burst of laughter.

Annabeth just nodded her head in agreement as everything that Theta said was true. She almost wanted to be like him and denounce the gods, but she couldn't do that to her mother. So she just compromised and focused on the good things about godly life instead of the bad, trying not to let the gods' mistakes bring her down.

"Damn and I thought that I was troublesome. If Zeus keeps this up, soon somebody is going to get fed up with the crap and Zeus' head will be on a pike. If he doesn't back off from me, I'll kill him myself to get rid of his bullshit," Theta began to rant as all Annabeth could do was sit in silence and stew over the words she was hearing.

Theta's eyes began to glow and his smile slightly grew as he thought about all of the things he would do to kill Zeus. The area between the two grew more tense and Theta's aura started to manipulate the shadows around them. This slightly worried Annabeth, but she sat still as she waited for Theta to finish.

After a while she got up and sealed her cloak closed as Theta looked at her plainly. She pulled out a small pouch that had ten drachmas in it and she tossed it to him. He caught the pouch with ease and looked at her questioningly.

"It's ten drachmas for the trouble. I'm sorry that we're putting you through this," said Annabeth as she turned around to leave. Theta quickly grabbed her by the arm and shoved the pouch back into her cloak.

Annabeth was about to retort, but Theta put a finger to his lips to quiet her. All around them, the Mist started to shake and wind as it then dispersed, revealing 30 green dressed people all wearing masks. The biggest one of them pulled down his mask and then gave a sinister grin.

"Looks like we found our target..and apparently we have a traitor to Olympus," he said as his evil grin grew.

"Damn it," Theta cursed as he shoved Annabeth behind him and got into a fighting stance.

To be continued…

A/N: Hahahahaha! I left you all on a cliffhanger. Please leave reviews and tell me what you think/how I can improve. I appreciate all feedback. Btw how do you want me to address Percy? Should I only call him Percy or only call him Theta, or should I do a mixture of the two? Please tell me in the reviews. Until the next chapter, I see you later. Bye!