AN:
Hello, one and all, to my second story on here. I felt the first, "The Spartan" was a rousing success both in reaction from the community and from my own personal rating of it. I had a lot of fun writing it, so here I am, back with a new story! This time around, its all me. No canon to lean on. Just a few of our favorite characters plopped into a new world and story of my own design. Fair warning, I'm not sure if I'll have quite as speedy of an upload schedule as last time - the second semester of engineering is a doozy - but I promise this will be far from one of those stories that gets an update a month. Now, I want to give you the tiniest amount of background information, purely for your sake, but not too much. It will start off with Hazel POV, but that's purely because I don't want to expose any of the plot at the beginning and Percy has some prior knowledge. Altough I also don't think there's anything wrong with having other main characters just brw. So, this story takes place in what you could call a futuristic world. I'm not putting a specific year on it, so it is up to your discretion to decide exactly how long from our time it takes place. The reason I'm doing this is so that I can fiddle with technology and whatnot without having to worry about what scientific advancements would be reasonable in the timeframe I set. Hopefully that sounds interesting to you, because I'm really excited about this. I hope I can live up to the expectations I set for myself with "The Spartan" Anyways, here's your first look at "All That's Left"

XxXxX

The rainy night did nothing to help lighten her mood. If anything, the somber aura that permeated the air as the biting cold liquid pounded down only served to embolden her tears. Perhaps some would find the rain comforting, like the world was crying with you, but for Hazel, the drab atmosphere of the night was nothing but a reminder of what she'd lost.

With each footfall, her eyes grew heavier, seeming to be in a race with her burdened heart to see which would cause her to falter first. Each step drew her closer to home, but she wasn't sure how welcoming it would be anymore. Lost in her own despondent thoughts, her distracted mind failed to notice the massive puddle draped across the asphalt in front of her.

One misplaced step was all it took. Her small foot plopped unceremoniously into the cool liquid, drenching it instantly. She withdrew her foot in haste, leaving behind the after affect she'd had on the small body of water. All across its surface, ripples formed, slowly spreading in expanding rings. For some reason, the gentle lolling of the waters surface drew her full attention.

Her soaked foot forgotten; Hazel peered into the puddle's depths. Her umbrella protected her and the puddle from the driving rain, allowing the small pool to slowly calm again. As the water stilled, it slowly changed into a reflective pool. A natural mirror of sorts. She stared into it, drinking in the image that looked back at her.

Her mascara was runny, and there were clear lines on her warm chocolate skin where her tears had fallen. Her golden eyes looked wet and dispirited, as if they were a looking glass into her sorrow filled soul. Her cinnamon hair, cascading in gentle curls down to her shoulders, was frizzy from the humidity, mimicking her frayed nerves. Truthfully, she looked like a mess, but she just didn't care considering the circumstances of her mood.

Behind her own image, she could make out the neon city lights. The skyscrapers stretching overhead like desperate hands reaching to feed hungry mouths. The bridges of glass connecting the buildings glittered even in the reflection, almost teasing her. The cars that floated overhead were even more taunting. The city above seemed to laugh at her, mocking the wonder she'd once held for the place she called home. She couldn't bear to look at it any longer, so she resumed her walk; she was nearing home anyways, and it wouldn't do to stand around all alone in her part of the city.

She remembered when her and her mother had first moved to Sapphire City. It was a young city then, it still was, but it had held promise. Everyone far and wide would tell you how Sapphire City was the jewel of the world. How it was the city of the future. How it was the pinnacle of human advancement and new age technology. Technically, they were right, it was all those things to some, just not for her and her mother, or for people like them.

For the rich, the extravagance of the upper city never ended. They lived perfect lives, completely removed from the common man below them. With their flying cars, coupled with the glass bridges and spiraling walkways that threaded between the upper levels of the tallest buildings, many rarely even touched the ground. They stayed far away from the earth, seemingly uninterested in where the less fortunate people went about their daily lives.

For people like Hazel and her mother, the upper city was nothing but a dream. It was a glimpse of what they'd come to Sapphire City looking to find. What they'd discovered though was a far cry from the visage the rumors had painted across their brains. The reality of their situation was much less picturesque then what the stories led them to believe. Unlike the rich, Hazel and her mother lived in the lower city, along with all the other dreamers. All the other people who'd had the same vision of hope they once had.

The city was clearly divided; upper and lower, rich and poor. The upper city provided an avenue for the rich to literally look down upon the less fortunate, and the lower city dwellers were forced to see the people who had it better than them every time they looked up, a bitter reminder that what they'd always hoped for was still out of reach.

She wasn't sure it was intentional that the city had formed that way. Regardless of intention, one thing was glaringly obvious to anyone who lived where she did. The city was nothing compared to the beacon of prosperity it had promised to be. If anything, Sapphire City was a brutal demonstration of the one thing that truly divided people in full effect. It didn't matter who you were in Sapphire City, all that mattered was what you were worth.

That was the exact problem she was dealing with now. She was worth next to nothing. Not even the police force would help her. They'd been almost dismissive of her case. Her mother had gone missing, and yet, when she'd pleaded with them for assistance, they'd offered next to nothing in assistance. They gave a few empty promises that they'd search for Maria Levesque, but Hazel knew the truth. There were too many people in the city, and not enough police to help them all, so unless you were worth your weight in precious gemstones, your case was stuffed in some filing cabinet somewhere, never to be dealt with.

Hazel wondered what she could even do now. She was only eighteen, and now she was completely alone. Without her mother, she was left with nothing. She had no siblings, and she'd never met her father. She was all that was left. She wasn't sure if she was ready for that. If she could handle that.

She couldn't face these depressing thoughts any longer. Lowering her eyes, she watched her feet pat across the ground as she walked. She counted her steps, listened to the rain, controlled her breathing as she walked, doing anything to take her mind off the runaway train of painful thoughts swirling through her brain. It was an old trick her mother had taught her, to let the most monotonous of things lull her into numbness, and one she was taking full advantage of over the past few days.

The trance like state she put herself into allowed the rest of her walk to go by in record time. Before she knew it, she was outside her and her mother's door. Or just hers now, she mused bitterly. It was a ground floor unit, one of the cheapest in the building, even more of a blessing now that she'd have to pay for it all by herself.

When her hand touched the door handle, a strong sense of relief washed over her. All she wanted to do was go to bed. She was exhausted and distraught, and nothing sounded nicer than to sleep her sorrows away. She pushed the door open, eager to finally put her long day behind her. Unfortunately, it seemed fate had other plans for her. Her much needed slumber would have to wait.

When she opened the door, she could instantly tell something was off. There was just this feeling in the air that something was amiss. It was almost like the air was supercharged. As if a thundercloud from the storm outside had clung to her like a baby and tumbled in with her. An uneasy knot formed in the pit of her stomach.

Her eyes traced across the living room, scanning over each and every piece of old and run-down furniture. Nothing seemed to be wrong there, so she expanded her search. It was probably nothing, but she just couldn't shake the feeling that something was about to change. Her gut was right. She spotted something in the doorway to her small kitchen, a clear sign that something, or someone, was in her apartment with her.

On the tile floor, she could see small drops of red. It looked like blood. She felt fear start to creep into her chest like a sinister black plague, but she choked it down. Sure, walking towards the intruder probably wasn't the best idea, but it's not like the police would help her, and leaving her apartment at night wouldn't work; her neighborhood was too dangerous for that. Rounding the corner, she whipped her eyes around the kitchen, her gaze stopping on the unfamiliar feature in the room. When her eyes registered what she saw, she froze.

There was a man in her apartment, slumped precariously in one of the chairs around her kitchen table. His head was lowered, a black mop of hair staring back at her in place of his face. The man was clutching his stomach, like he was a child with a belly ache, but she could see it was much more than that. Crimson liquid leaked through his fingers, spilling onto the floor beneath him. She was still too startled to move, staring down the man who was too focused on keeping his guts in to notice her. Finally, she worked up the courage to find her voice, and she spoke.

"Who are you? What are you doing in my apartment?" she asked, trying to sound intimidating, despite her shaky voice being an octave higher than usual.

The man jumped a little at her words, startled by her appearance. He looked up to meet her eyes, and her mouth dropped open. A black mask, made of some rigid material she couldn't identify, covered his face up to his nose, masking his features. All that she could make out was a pair of startling green eyes, vibrant like nothing she'd ever seen before. The sight of his unnatural eyes caught her entirely off guard.

"What am I doing?" he asked incredulously, eyebrows raised. "Isn't it obvious? I'm bleeding out all over your kitchen floor."

His voice was weak. He'd lost a lot of blood, if his pale skin was anything to go by. She wasn't a doctor, but she doubted he'd make it.

"Hold on, I'll call 911." She said, reaching for her phone, though she knew the chance of them even coming was low.

Maybe it wasn't the smartest to try and help a guy who had broken into your house, but she didn't want to watch a man die, and she doubted he could do anything to her with how much blood he had lost anyways.

"No. Don't." he breathed out, halting her actions. "Just grab that for me." He said, nodding towards the floor behind her.

Turning around, she saw a small syringe on the ground, a bloody palm print covering the writing on the side. He must've dropped it, she realized, and been too weak to retrieve it, whatever it was. Hastily, she picked up the bloody needle, giving it to him before backing away as fast as she could. She wanted to help him, but she still didn't trust him enough to stay within arm's reach of the man.

He dipped his head towards her in appreciation before removing his other hand from the wound. Blood began to pour even faster now that the pressure was gone. Whatever he was doing, he'd better do it fast, because he was about two pints of blood away from completely redecorating her kitchen.

As she watched on, the man wasted no time in rolling up his sleeve with one arm, using the other to inject whatever was in the syringe into his veins. As soon as the liquid hit his bloodstream, a sigh of relief escaped his lips, and the pain in his eyes started to fade. His skin quickly regained its color, and his bleeding slowed, before halting altogether. Within seconds, it was as if he'd never been hurt at all. Her mouth fell open in recognition.

"Is that… Was that nectar?" she asked slowly, not believing her eyes.

"Sure was. Just don't tell anyone I had it." He said cheekily, putting a single finger up to where his lips would be.

"That's a military grade healing injection! The upper city doctors can barely get their hands on it." She cried in shock.

"I know." He said with a wink. "That's why you can't tell anyone I have it."

"I don't even know who I'm supposed to tell." She admitted. "But I'll figure it out if you don't give me some answers."

She felt somewhat safe with the man now, considering he'd shown no sign of aggression thus far. Plus, even if she couldn't read his other features through the mask, his eyes looked kind, so she doubted he'd hurt her. If that wasn't enough, she could also dangle the fact that he owed her his life now over his head.

"What answers I give you depends entirely on the questions you're asking." He said mysteriously, seeming unbothered by her curiosity.

"Well, for starters, who are you, what are you doing in my kitchen, and why were you bleeding all over the place?"

The man eyed her for a moment before he rose from his chair. She took a hesitant step back when he moved. He was much more intimidating when he wasn't hunched over in pain. He was tall, easily clearing six feet, which towered over her small frame, and had a lithe muscular build that was much more noticeable when he stood He started to walk towards her, and she made to retreat, but was stopped by his outreaching hand, hanging in the air in a gesture of friendship. Despite the blood covering his palm, she shook his hand, just to be polite, ignoring the sensation of his lifeblood rubbing into her skin.

"I'm Percy. Percy Jackson. I was in your kitchen because I was bleeding and needed somewhere private to inject the nectar. Thanks for that by the way."

"It was nothing." She said softly, her foot toeing the floor beneath her. She wasn't the best with compliments. Or appreciation. Or any positive emotions that didn't come from her mother for that matter.

"As for the bleeding thing, well. I may or may not have gotten shot once or twice or five times. Maybe."

She recoiled in shock. Her blood ran cold like ice. He'd gotten shot? Just who was this guy? He had a military healing substance and he had described being shot like it was a common occurrence. In her surprise, she did what she always did when she got nervous. She started to ramble.

"You got shot? Are you some sort of thug or something? Did your gang take my mom? Are you a soldier? Do you have a gun? Are you going to kill me? Are you e-"

He held up a hand to stop her, cutting her off. His eyes looked serious now. All the light heartedness and mirth that had resided in the swirling pools of green had dispersed, being replaced with an intimidating seriousness that didn't seem to fit the man.

"Did you say your mom was taken?" he asked slowly, his voice guarded.

"Yeah, she went missing a few days ago." Hazel admitted. She wasn't sure what was driving her to give this knowledge away, but it was too late to stop now.

"So is she missing or was she taken?" he implored, almost desperate.

"Does it matter? It's the same thing isn't it?"

"No, it's not the same thing!" he cried, throwing his hands up into the air. "If she's missing, she could just as easily be on some drugged up alcoholic bender, curled up in an alley sleeping it off somewhere. She could have run off with some man. She could be-"

"My mom isn't like that!" Hazel protested. "She's a little eccentric, but she's not like that. She was taken, I know it. That or she's… She's…" The tears were starting to come back now.

"Enough of that then," he said, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You said she disappeared a few days ago?" Hazel nodded. "Then she's not dead. She'd have been found already if that were the case. If what you say is true, she was kidnapped, though I'm not sure if that's any better to be candid with you."

"How is it not better? If she's kidnapped, she's alive!"

"Yes, but if she's with who I think she is, that might not be such a good thing. Sometimes dead is better." His words seemed like he believed them. He sounded truly sorry for her.

"What do you mean? What are you talking about?" she choked out with teary eyes, her mind now running through all the things worse than death. It was a short list, but not a very pleasant one to picture to say the least.

Percy paused for a moment, seeming to debate something in his mind. Without speaking, he dug a hand into one of his pockets, coming out with a fancy looking pen. He looked around her kitchen for a small time, finding a stray piece of paper on one of the counter tops. Ripping a piece off, he scrawled something on it, before handing it to her. It was an address written in golden ink.

"What is this?" she asked, waving the paper weakly.

"An opportunity, so to speak. I don't have time to explain right now. I'm on a very tight schedule, and I already got delayed by the whole being shot thing." He explained quickly.

"What kind of opportunity?" she whispered.

"One you shouldn't pass up. You see, you have two options miss…" he trailed off, realizing she'd never given her name in exchange for his.

"Levesque. Hazel Levesque." She supplied.

"Well Hazel, you have two options now, two paths. Option one, you forget I ever existed, and you sit around here waiting for your mom to come home. You live a normal life, but you'll probably never see her again. Option two, you meet me at that address at five o'clock P.M. tomorrow, and I try to help you get your mom back. I can't promise you we find her, or that your life will ever go back to normal after you walk in those doors, but I can promise you one thing. It'll be a hell of a lot better than sitting around and praying."

She opened her mouth up to respond, but he stopped her. He leaned down, his tall frame having to bend low to put him at eye level. His sea green eyes bore into her golden ones, and she saw a message in them she couldn't quite decipher.

"Don't answer now." He said softly. "Sleep on it. I'm sure you'll make the right decision."

And then he was leaving, his footsteps like a ghost as he walked away. She didn't even hear the door close behind him. He was like a wraith. A fleeting shadow. Gone as quick as he came. The only evidence that Percy had ever been there was the puddle of blood on the floor, and the address written in golden ink.

Despite the exhaustion that she felt, it took her much too long to fall asleep. As she tossed and turned in her empty house, her mind danced with the possibilities of what tomorrow held. Of exactly how and why this stranger had seemed so eager to help her at the drop of a hat. When rest finally came, there was only one thing on her mind. She wasn't alone anymore.

XxXxX

AN:

So, that's the prologue. I really wanted to paint a picture with this. I wanted to start laying the groundwork of the world this is set in and establish a hint of the plot without giving anything away. I also wanted to paint my take on the personalities of Percy and Hazel, our two main characters, for this one (Not a pairing, I'm intending for this to be a Brother/Sister thing and avoiding romance for the most part. Don't worry though, my third story is probably going to be centered around romance) Anyways, for personalities if it isn't obvious, Hazel is still Hazel, but leans a bit into her shy/nervous nature, although not so prude/innocent (She's 18 instead of 13/14ish, for starters) and is a bit more of a Mama's girl than in the books. Percy is still Percy, but I'm going to be going a little bit different with him than my last story. You'll just have to wait and see for him. Anyways, thanks for reading, whether you enjoyed or not. I really hope you guys did enjoy though. Be sure to leave a review and let me know what you think, because this story is SUPER adjustable to feedback considering there's no predestined plan for where it needs to go. So, until next time, Peace.

EDIT: For the person saying "yOu ReViEw YoUr OwN fIcS." nah bro, I thought it was pretty clearly a joke. It was posted instantly after the first chapter, with my account name, and said nothing actually constructive about the writing. I was under the impression it would be funny for others to read that lmao