Fanfic #187 A Light in the Dark by Greed720(PercyJackson)

This fanfic is an au following a mercenary Percy Jackson. I really like this fic because it has a fun version of Percy and it has interesting mystery elements when it comes to his parentage.

Synopsis: He doesn't know who his father is, and he can barely remember his mother. Instead, he grew up in the system, for a time at least. All of this affected the way he turned out. Not that he really cares, after all, as far as Percy's concerned, his life is pretty great!

Rated: M

words: 80k

https://m.fanfiction.net/s/13363430/1/A-Light-in-the-Dark

Here's the first chapter:

(Manhattan)

"I don't mind spending everyday..." A taller than average, dark haired teen, with broad shoulders, muttered to himself as he casually walked across the rooftop of one of the high rise buildings in Manhattan, absentmindedly trailing his hand along the cement balustrade beside him, even as he hummed along to the music coming out of his earphones.

"Out on your corner in the pouring rain..." The teen than continued under his breath as he came to a sudden halt, and set the case he was carrying down on the roof of the building. His dark brown, almost black eyes gleaming as he opened up the case he was holding and then began to assemble the weapon within, his hands moving the components of his weapon to their proper place with practiced ease.

"Look for the girl with the broken smile..." The teen continued, even as he finished assembling his weapon and then lifted it up, revealing it to be a curved, compound bow, which was made entirely out of Stygian Iron.

Swinging his weapon up and give it a testing draw, he then took a half dozen, Stygian Iron tipped arrows out of the case and leant them most of them against the railing, even as he nocked one of the arrows and then drew it back, the bodkin point nearly touching his hand as he narrowed his eyes and began searching for his target.

"Ask her if she wants to stay awhile..." The dark haired teen continued to murmur, even as he scanned the streets of Manhattan below him, the wind ruffling his short, dark hair as he continued to search the quiet streets below.

Fortunately it did not take him too long to lock onto his target, or rather targets. They were there below him, as he had been told they would be. A group of four demigods were making their way through one of the back alleys of Manhattan. And they were Roman demigods too, a Son of Mars, a Daughter of Apollo and two Sons of Mercury.

A small squad of demigods from Camp Jupiter, all of whom had been recently sent out on a quest by the Senate of New Rome. They were a prime target, one that he would no doubt of targeted anyway, even if he had not been contracted to assassinate them.

"And she will be loved..." The teen whispered again, drawing his bow back even further as he locked in on his main mark, the Son of Mars, who was walking slight ahead of his comrades.

The boy was a stocky lad, who was maybe sixteen or seventeen years old, and was noticeably wearing an Imperial Gold breastplate over his purple camp shirt. His three comrades were all dressed similar, each of them wearing some form of armour over the top of their purple camp shirts.

On top of that, the only noticeable weapons the group were carrying was an Imperial Gold crossbow, which was in possession of the Daughter of Apollo, and a spear which was held by one of the Sons of Mercury. Not that he thought for a moment that the other two weren't armed, not when they were in the middle of a Quest.

"And she will be loved..." He muttered one last time, focusing in on his target, a frown of concentration on his face, even as he released his arrow. The black tipped arrow exploding from the bow with immense force, as it hurtled through the air and down at the squad of four Demigods.

A few moments later and the arrow struck home, the Stygian Iron tip driving itself through the Son of Mars' eye socket, a spray of blood spattering the three other demigods behind him. Each of whom looked at the falling body of their comrade in absolute shock.

The teen however was not distracted by the falling Son of Mars, instead he picked up another arrow, nocked it and drew back his bow with practiced ease. One of his eyes closing, even as he took aim again, quickly locking in on the Daughter of Apollo, before he released yet another arrow.

Unfortunately though the element of surprise was lost, and the Daughter of Apollo's swift actions caused the Stygian Iron arrow to strike the concrete floor instead, the bodkin point gouging deep into the tarmac below.

Undeterred he picked up another arrow and took aim at one of the demigods still in the open, drawing the bow back once again he unloosed another arrow, this one striking one of the Sons of Mercury in the chest. The arrow taking him through the heart at the same time as he was unsheathing an Imperial Gold gladius from under his coat, the arrow tearing through his leather armour as if it was not even there.

Collapsing to the floor the Son of Mercury was slain instantly.

Taking advantage of the situation the Daughter of Apollo shot to her feet, swinging her crossbow up as she did so. After which, the girl, using her natural born sharp eyes and skill at marksmanship, found his location on the roof, raising her crossbow as she did so, even as she sent a gold tipped bolt at his position, the bolt tearing through the air with brutal as it shot towards him, only for him to sidestep it with ease.

Raising his bow once more, he then loosed another arrow, taking less than five seconds to target the girl, draw the bow and release the arrow. The arrow catching the girl through the throat even as she once again tried to duck behind cover.

Swivelling around he tried to take aim at the last remaining demigod, the spear wielding Son of Mercury. The smartest of the bunch, as, the moment the ambush started he had had dived behind a nearby bin, his barely visible body noticeably heaving slightly as he panicked.

Narrowing his eyes at this, he drew another arrow and focused on the teen, his gaze picking up a part of the boys chest, which poked out slightly from behind his cover.

Once more drawing his bow, taking a breath as he did so, the assassin then released yet another arrow, this one tearing through the air and impacting the part of the boy's body that was visible.

Collapsing sideways the Son of Mercury's body fell to the floor without a sound.

Rolling his shoulders, Percy Jackson allow his bow to hang limply by his side, even as slight smile tugged at his lips. Another successful mission.

With that though Percy calmly began to take apart and pack up his bow. Carefully dissembling it and packing it all into his case, along with his single spare arrow, before he then closed it with a snapping sound.

With that done, Percy then walked to the edge of the building, before, with a deep breath he jumped.

In response he felt a tugging in his gut, even as he drew on one of his own, natural born abilities. His entire body becoming surrounded in a with a golden glowing light, as he used the ability he called 'Meteor' to shoot through the sky like a bullet, heading down to where the recent massacre had just occurred.

Yeah, he had magic/ superpowers, or Demigod abilities as he now knew them to be. With 'Meteor' just being one facet of these abilities, as well as being the one he enjoyed using the most.

In truth he had had these abilities ever since he was born, which had been over fifteen years ago now, to a kind, if slightly gullible, woman called Sally Jackson, and a deadbeat god, whose name and identify he didn't even know.

Not only had he been born with these abilities though, he had had to learn how to use them quickly too. Especially after his another god, yet again he didn't know this one's identity either, took an interest in his Clear Sighted mother back when Percy was five. Enough so that he wanted to court her, even if that meant using magic to forcibly get rid of the baggage, i.e. Percy.

Exactly what the god had done, Percy didn't know. All he knew was that suddenly his mother didn't know who he was, this being despite her supposed Clear Sightedness, which in theory should have allowed her to see through any divine or magical illusion. No, for reason unbeknown to him she ignored his existence, hence why Percy soon found himself in the system.

All of this Percy of course learned later on in life, when he was about twelve, and he had a run in with a satyr, a Greek monster, or nature spirit, he wasn't sure which one really, that found him whilst he was in the midst of fleeing from his current, shitty foster home in Canada. Only for said satyr to let him in on the big secret that the gods were real, and that the reason for his abilities, were because one of the fuckers had knocked up his mum and then done a runner.

The satyr of course died soon later, killed off by a Hellhound that mistook him for lunch. But he did still serve a purpose, he let Percy in on one of the big secrets of this world, as well as providing a good distraction for Percy to leg it and escape.

Three years later, and after a lot of soul searching and introspection, especially on just how shit the gods were, and how much they had screwed up his life, and here Percy was, thriving in life, as either magical mercenary for hire or a scavenger, depending on your point of view.

Descending to the ground a few moments later, the golden glow around Percy's body soon vanished as he released his hold on his Meteor ability as his booted feet landing once more back on solid ground.

A few moments later and he was walking across the ground, heading in the direction of the dead demigods, the case that was holding his bow in his left hand as he walked.

Casually strolling across the silent street, Percy approached the dead bodies of the four fallen demigods, a disinterested look on his face as he pulled out an eight inch long, hunting knife from where it was strapped on the small of his back. With him starting to idly flip it in his hand, as he walked across the street.

His dark eyes flicking over to look into a large puddle on the ground as he passed. His crooked smile widening as he checked out his reflection in the puddle. Still as handsome and dashing as ever.

Though really, in his humble opinion, he did cut a striking figure. What with his broad shoulders, and stocky, muscled frame, his black, fur lined parka coat, and Stygian Iron breastplate just adding to his stature. On top of that his short, thick, yet somehow still messy black hair, and dark brown almost black, almond shaped eyes, along with his naturally tanned skin tone, all gave him a somewhat exotic look.

Turning away from his reflection, Percy instead approached the dead bodies in the alley. With him walking up to the Son of Mars, his main target, first. Absentmindedly hooking his foot beneath his body as he did so, before he kicked him up so he was facing upwards.

With that done, Percy crouched down slightly and began to run his hands over the dead boy's body, checking for any potential loot.

Fortunately, it did not take him long to find something, as within a few seconds he came across an Imperial Gold ring on the boy's hand, a cool little item that when pulled off the finger turned into a golden gladius.

Twirling the short sword around in his hand, Percy, checked the balance of the blade, giving it a few test swings as he did so.

Satisfied he then willed it back into the form of a ring before slipping it onto the forefinger of his left hand. After which he went back to sifting through the rest of the boy's belongings, with him quickly pocketing a bottle of nectar and a bag of ambrosia.

Next he began to unbuckle the Imperial Gold armour the boy was wearing, already making plans for what to do with the rare, and valuable chunk of divine golden metal. Pulling it off him he quickly sequestered it in an enchanted satchel that was massively expanded, a trophy he had taken from one of the other demigods he had killed a year or two back, this one having been a Norse one if he were not mistaken.

Finishing with the Son of Mars Percy soon moved onto the other bodies, looting them without a care for deference or respect for dead, as he instead dug about in their pockets and stripped them of any godly items that may come in use.

A couple of minutes later though, as he was bagging up the Daughter of Apollo's crossbow he was attacked. The Son of Mercury, the one who he had shot last, it appeared was faking his death, because, when he approached the boy's body to loot it, he was suddenly forced to dodge to the side as the blonde Son of Mercury lunged forward, his spear aimed at Percy's heart.

Not that it did much good though, as Percy had been ready for it. Which is why, as the boy thrust his spear forward, Percy shifted to the side with practiced ease, his case and mundane knife falling to the floor as he grabbed the shaft of the Roman Demigod's spear with one hand. His hand twisting as he did so, even as he gripped it with the other hand and then wrenched the weapon out of the boy's grasp.

With that done, Percy through the spear to one side, and instead brought his hand up to one of the necklaces that were around his neck. The necklace in question being one with a bronze chain, which in turn had a charm on it that was in the shape of a khopesh, a curved Egyptian blade that he had acquired from another of his fallen marks.

Pulling the charm off his necklace it soon expanded to form a two foot long blade made of Celestial Bronze. Twirling it in Percy then stepped forward, batting the Son of Mercury's perfunctory swipe of dagger, as he then slashed downwards, the curved blade slicing through the boy's Imperial Gold chain mail and traveling down as Percy then disembowelled him.

Stepping back, twirling his blade once again and flicking the blood off it as he did so, Percy then looked down at the deceased boy before him. Only this time, Percy couldn't help but feel a hollow feeling in his stomach at the sight of scared expression forever plastered on the dead boy's face.

He should feel bad about killing like this, but honestly, he didn't. This was a kill or be kill world. Those who were weak died, while the strong thrived, this he knew, he had lived it after all, for years now. But even so, surely he should still feel something, anything? Yet for some reason he didn't.

( - )

(A few minutes later)

Walking away from the four deceased Roman demigods, the dark haired teen heard a ringing sound emanating from his coat pocket. Reaching into said pocket he hooked out a mobile phone he had acquired.

Looking down and recognising the number Percy brought it to his ear and answered.

"Is it done?" Came a distorted voice from the phone. "Is the Centurion of the first Cohort and his supporters dead?"

"Yeah, yeah, all four of them have been taken care of. Have you dropped off my money at the designated point?" Percy said into the phone, even as he exited the back alley, easily slipping in with the crowds on the street a few minutes later, a slight smile on his face as he made eye contact with the people he passed.

"It has been dropped off, five thousand aureus. Our business is finished." The voice continued, a slight smug note the person on the other end's tone as they did so.

"Well yes we are almost finished. But one more thing, just a little warning in case anything goes wrong." Percy replied cheerfully, a smile still on his face as he did so. "Let me just say, I know who you are, and I know where you live."

"What?" The voice replied with a slight note of panic in it now.

"Yes, Octavian, the Legacy of Apollo and the Augur of Camp Jupiter, I know who you are. So don't fuck with me!" Percy continued, his voice still genial. He had dealt with people like this before and he knew there is only one way to keep them in line. He would never break a promise once he had made it, and as such he expected those he dealt with to do likewise. "So I trust all the money will be in the designated spot as if it is not..."

"The money will be there." The voice replied slightly shakily before he hung up the phone.

"Ha idiot." Percy said with a bark of laughter as he put away his phone, and it was true, after all the only reason he knew that the person on the phone was ,Octavian, was because he had not withheld his number when he rang him. So honestly, all it took for him to find out who the caller was, was to redial and listen to their voice mail... so yeah he was an idiot. Or at least someone who didn't have that much of a clue about technology.

( - )

(The Next Day)

Lying down on the uncomfortable, lumpy bed, in his rented room just outside of New York City, Percy couldn't keep a smile off his face. He had just returned minutes early from the predesignated drop off point, a large bag containing five thousand gold aureus in hand.

It had been a good payday, he got a shit tonne of gold and a few cool new trophies too.

In fact he would say it had been a pretty good day all round.

Though, Percy's face darkened, it was looking to be getting somewhat worse.

Turning his head slightly to the side, Percy took note of the shadows in the corner of the room thickening, until soon enough another figure appeared in the room. The person in question being a tall, skinny woman, with a thin, stern looking face. The older woman in question currently wearing a black, leather biker jacket, the shadows around her fading away as she stepped into the room and looked around.

Percy knew who this was, it was, Alecto, one of Hades' Furies/ minions, and a 'friendly' monster that he had dealt with many times before on behalf of her Master.

"Ahh Alecto, how good to see you again! Having a good day?" Percy said sarcastically as he looked up at the woman from where he was still lying on the bed. His body tense and ready to leap into action, even if outwardly he looked calm and chilled.

"Jackson." The woman said, a frown on her face as she looked down at the boy on the bed before her. "Still as obnoxious as ever I see!"

"You know it." Percy replied cheerfully, answering her statement as if it were a question, "Now, what do you want?"

"I have a job for you, from my Master." Alecto said as she took a step closer to Percy's bed, a cruel glint in her eyes as she looked down at the dark haired teen.

"Oh really and what does cold, dark and miserable want with me this time? Tell me does he need me to walk his pet dog, Cerberus, or something?" Percy replied glibly, slightly amused as he saw a flash of anger cross Alecto's face. She really didn't like him.

"He has an important mission for you, and this one is of absolute importance!" Alecto replied bluntly, her face still twisted into an expression of intense dislike, even as she swallowed her distaste for Percy and got on with the job at hand.

"Oh, well now I am really intrigued! So tell me, what's the job?" Percy replied, pushing himself up from the bed as he did so.

"You are to retrieve two of my Master's children from Westover Academy, a military school in Maine. Their names are Nico and Bianca di Angelo, the only living Demigod children of my Master! As such it is crucial that they are recovered quickly, and alive, and then delivered to their father with all haste." Alecto replied with deadly seriousness to Percy.

As he heard the job Percy raised his eyebrows in surprise, this really was a big job. Probably his biggest one yet, after all his usual jobs just involved simple kill missions, either Demigod or monsters, or protection gigs for a favoured child or trinket.

With that in mind, Percy decided to ask something that suddenly occurred to him. "So why me then? Old doom and gloom has the full power of the Underworld behind him, surely he had a lot of other options than a humble, lowly Demigod like me?"

"He wants this kept low key, as he does not want his brothers to know. After all they do have a habit of actively trying to murder his children." Alecto replied bluntly, not even batting an eye at the way he addressed her Master, or at his description of himself. Clearly this matter was pretty damn important. "For all that you are little more than feckless, bottom feeding scavenger, you are at least subtle, and efficient."

Well maybe not that important, after all she did just get a few good digs in at him.

"Fair enough, so what's the pay?" Percy said agreeably, pushing himself off of his lumpy mattress as he began to move around his room packing up his belongings as he did so. "After all, even 'feckless, bottom feeding scavengers' don't work for free!"

"What do you want?" Alecto replied with a sigh, she dealt with this from Percy before.

"Oooh exciting." Percy replied, a bright grin on his face as he did so. "So I don't need any more money, I am all good for it at the moment. What I would like though is a Blessing, Hades' will do!"

"Out of the question." Alecto shot back bluntly, her pinched face twisting into an expression of disgust at the thought of someone like Percy bearing her Master's Blessing. "Ask for something else!"

"Well, it was worth a try." Percy shrugged unperturbed, he had asked for Hades' Blessing before, only for him to be rebuffed every time. Turns out most gods were surprisingly stingy when it came to giving out portions of their power, in the form of a Blessing. Who knew!? "Fine, I want a new weapon."

"Was the Stygian Iron, compound bow the smiths of the Underworld crafted for you not enough?" Alecto asked curiously.

"No, no it is useful. Though it would be handy if it had one of those cool little enchantments which made it shrink into something smaller, and innocuous, you know like a charm I could stick on a necklace. But no, this is a different weapon." Percy replied with a shrug, packing the last of his belongings into his satchel as he did so.

"And what kind of weapon?" Alecto asked tiredly.

"I'm thinking an axe! Something that can cut through mail, and crack armour plate, if you know what I mean?" Percy replied with a smile on his face, only to pause as he saw Alecto's cocked eyebrow. "What can I say, I ran into this Norse Demigod a few weeks back. A proper big bastard too, I reckon he was a son of one of their war gods. Either way, I managed to take the bastard down, but not before he landed a nasty blow on me. He nearly killed me too, I mean seriously, it cracked my Celestial Bronze cuirass, broke a couple of ribs and knocked all the air out of my lungs, and left a bruise on my side, the size of a football!"

Alecto continued to send him a dry look at this explanation, though her lips did twitch upwards in pleasure as Percy described his injury. Something which he definitely noticed, the spiteful cow.

"But yeah, like I said, I want one! I would have taken the Norse guy's one, had one of those Valkyrie tarts not taken it first, was a real nice one too." Percy pouted, it had been a few weeks ago now and he was fully recovered, but even so he was still a bit put out about his misfortune.

"Fine, I will pass on your request." Alecto sighed, rubbing at her temples as she did so, as if she were attempting to push back a growing headache.

"Great! That'll pay for one of the brats, also give it one of those enchantments which can turn it into a charm or something too, oh and make it Stygian Iron as well!" Percy replied, a grin on his face as he saw the irritation on Alecto's face. "As for the other brat, well you can take my bow back and stick an enchantment on it too, so that it turns into a small charm as well. I'm getting sick and tired of carrying it about in a case and assembling it!"

With that said he dug about in his satchel and pulled out the case containing his bow. After which he threw it over to the unamused Alecto. "Get it back to me as soon as possible."

"Do the job first and then you will get your reward, both your axe, and the charm on your bow." Alecto replied harshly, though she did catch the case and hold it down at her side.

"See you when the job is done then." Percy replied with a slight laugh, even as he saw Alecto fade into the shadows. He really did enjoy messing with Hades' Furies. Though that said, he did have to ensure he didn't go too far, after all Hades was one of his most frequent, and generous employers.

Turning back to his bed, he quickly gave it a once over to make sure he had collected up all of his stuff, only to pause as noticed a file waiting innocuously for him on his pillow.

Sighing at the sight of the file, he scooped it up and opened it, and then began to read the short profile he had received on both of Hades' children. As he continued reading the file a smile slowly crept onto his face. "So Maine then... sounds fun!"