The Vanishing Hero

chapter 2

Chapter 2: Training and State-side

AN: Chapter 2 is going to focus mainly on the state of the search for Percy while glossing over his training in his absence. I'm not going to give too many details of the training specifically because it'll take forever to go in depth.

3RD PERSON POV

It's been a year since Percy vanished from the Greek world without a trace. There has been absolutely no sight of him as he fled to Australia to begin his training. He decided to begin with his new powers as the Champion of Hestia as they were the newest and would take the longest.

PERCY POV

I have been in Australia for a year now, and honestly, I still hurt everyday. The abandonment of the campers and Annabeth - gods it even hurts just to think her name - has not set well with me. Regardless, I have done my best to quell the sorrow with training everyday. I isolated myself to train with Hestia's powers first as they could cause a lot of damage if not controlled correctly. I had set myself up targets to do so with the lack of monsters outside North America. I came across a few dracnae and hellhounds in the Outback, but they hardly devoured humans. Mostly targeting the wildlife there, but as I found myself with a soft spot for Lady Artemis, I decided to protect them as much as I could.

Speaking of Lady Artemis, she's probably gonna turn me into a jackalope and kill me since she hasn't been able to find me for the past year. Oh gods and Thalia too. I'm gonna get a heavy dosage of shock therapy when I get back.

My training went well enough. Summoning fire took a lot out of me at first, much like when I was first learning to control water, but in the year I've been away, I have mastered it, even being able to coat my weapons in flames. Summoning foods was by far the easiest to get and handle on, but unfortunately, I couldn't quite be creative with most home cooked meals. Fire travel was difficult to get a hold of at first. The sensation felt like my entire body was burning, which in reality it was, but in time I was able to advance from sight line teleportation to places I felt a stronger connection to having been there before such as several camps sites I used regularly.

By the end of the year I spent here I was able to fire travel anywhere on the continent with no difficulty. Instilling hope and healing people came with more of a challenge as I felt I had such little hope to begin with, but in time I found being able to instill it in people made myself in turn feel more hopeful. That I was able to help and see the impact it had. It made me feel like less of a failure. I decided that with mastery over Hestia's abilities, my 'vacation' was done and I would next travel to Japan to bring up my weak points (namely archery and stealth), as well as develop a new sword style.

~Meanwhile back in the States~

ARTEMIS POV

I can't believe it. It's been a year since Perseus disappeared and we have absolutely no trace of him. It's like he vanished from the Earth. No clues and no leads to go off of and my hunters are beyond annoyed that this boy has evaded them for an entire year. The gall of this man is ridiculous. Even with him having my blessing I haven't been able to get the slightest clue. Thalia is driving the hunters into the ground as we've traveled across the country multiple times even venturing into Canada and some parts of Latin America, but still nothing.

The camps and Council aren't fairing much better either. Poseidon is a wreck, no doubt blaming himself for his son's disappearance. He hardly has any input at the monthly Council meetings, if he shows up at all. His entire kingdom is distraught as a result of their grieving king.

The Seven are worried as well. Venturing out state to state looking for any leads and asking mortals if they've had any sight of the demigod. Frank and Hazel have tried venturing into Canada and even Alaska themselves with no such luck. Admittedly they're scared for the man that took on a big brother role so quickly upon meeting them. That Athena spawn feels guilty, as she should in my opinion, but has enough work with designing the new city for Camp Half-Blood to distract her. The death of Perseus's parents might have been the final breaking point that drove him away, but I feel that she is the main cause of this. Wait. Me? Blaming a maiden?