Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians but I wish I owned Nico. But I don't. I do, however, own some of the places, some of the future characters and so on. Anyway, enjoy.
It was so odd. The storm raged above but down there, underneath the waves, all was calm. It was a curious sort of thing. I could feel the peaceful breathing of the sea, gently rocking me back and forth. What was even more interesting was that my lungs burned, screaming for air, but I felt no need to leave the stillness around me.
But I need to… do something, I thought, though I couldn't for the life of me remember what it was. I searched my brain but I came up with nothing. I knew I had to do something, and I had to get to the surface to do it, but I couldn't remember what it was and so felt no urgency. But I knew it was important, if only I could remember what it was…
"Percy." I blinked, slowly turning my head to look around, trying to find the source of the voice. The water made my movement sluggish though I knew it shouldn't have. "Percy, honey, wake up."
I could see nothing but the darkness of the water and the debris that surrounded me. "Percy, wake up. They'll be here soon."
My eyes snapped open. I wasn't sinking in the ocean, I was lying in my bed, in my room. Lifting my head from the pillow, I squinted and looked around my room. Sunlight was pouring through my window and my mom was standing over me, looking down at me and smiling.
"Wha?" Not the most intelligent thing I'd ever said but, give me a break. I'd just woken up.
"Percy Jackson, you're friends are going to get here and you'll still be in your pajamas if you don't get up now," my mom told me.
That got me up. My hair must have been sticking up because she started laughing. I frowned and ran a hand through my hair. Once Mom had left the room, I climbed out of bed and closed my door. Scrambling around, since I didn't know how much time I had until the others arrived, I quickly changed out of my pajamas and into a white t-shirt, a gray hoodie and a pair of jeans.
A quick glance in the mirror told me that my hair had, indeed, been what my mom was laughing at. Frowning, I tried to tame my bedhead with a mild degree of success. Giving up, I left my bedroom and joined Paul at the kitchen table. Mom placed a plate of pancakes in front of me and I dug in.
Paul glanced up from his newspaper, raising an eyebrow. "You certainly slept in," he commented.
I just nodded, trying to shovel my pancakes into my mouth as quickly as possible.
"Percy, slow down!" Mom told me.
I did, but only a little. I didn't want to still be eating when the guys arrived.
I should probably explain. I got an Iris-message from Chiron a couple of days ago telling me that he needed to talk to us and when I say us I mean me, Annabeth, Nico and, surprisingly, Thalia. I don't know how he managed to convince Artemis to let go of Thalia for a while but, whatever the reason, it would be good to see her again.
Chiron told me that we would be meeting at my place –not asked, told- but he'd forgotten to mention when they'd be showing up. And I didn't exactly want to still be getting ready for the day when they showed up. So, quickly finishing off my breakfast, I rushed to the bathroom and brushed my teeth and washed my face.
I swear, they have got the best timing because I was just drying my face when they all showed up. Stepping out of the bathroom, I watched as Mom ushered everybody in. They all gathered in the living room. Thalia and Annabeth sat on the couch, Chiron sat in his wheelchair beside them while Nico sat in one of the lounge chairs.
Without a second thought, I sat beside Annabeth, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and planting a kiss on her cheek. Laughing, she turned her head and kissed me. "Good to see you too, Percy."
"Yes, it is good to see you again," Chiron said. "How have you been?"
"Curious," I told him. "What's this about?"
"Yeah, Chiron," Thalia said. "It must have been important for you to contact us at this time of the year."
Oh, did I forget? It was a week after Christmas. I was supposed to go back to school the day after he'd called but Chiron had told me not to. I guess he'd said the same thing to Annabeth. Last I'd heard, Nico had been spending time with his father and step-mom so I guess it wouldn't have taken much to convince him to come.
Chiron nodded. "It is," he said. "Camp Half-Blood is not the only option for demigods."
"We're aware of that, Chiron," Annabeth told him.
"No, I don't think you understand," he said. "There is another place for half-bloods to go besides Camp Half-Blood."
That got our attention. "What are you talking about?" I asked.
"There is a boarding school in South Dakota," he explained. "It's not like Camp Half-Blood but it is very well protected nonetheless, and it's very isolated."
"Ok, so what's that got to do with us?" Thalia asked.
"The demigods that come out of that school are very… anti-gods, some more so than others. I want you to go to this school, find out how great the risk is that they'll wage war against the gods and, if it's serious enough, try to…" He broke off as he searched for the right term.
"Diffuse it?" I suggested.
"Not the term I would have used, but yes." Chiron looked around at each of us in turn. "I don't know what you will face in there but, if you agree to go, you must be careful. From what I've heard, they can be very hostile."
I looked at my mom and Paul, then around at my friends. "I'm in if you guys are," I said.
"I'm in," Annabeth said.
"Me too," Thalia added.
Nico just nodded.
I looked at the boy. "You've been awfully quiet."
"His voice is breaking," Annabeth told me.
Nico glared at her. "It is not!" But, even as he spoke, his voice cracked.
"Oh no, of course not," Thalia muttered sarcastically.
"How long will they be gone?" my mom asked, stepping forward.
Chiron shook his head. "I don't know," he told her. "That depends on how great the risk is." To us, he said, "If things become too dangerous or you're not able to… diffuse the threat, get out of there."
We all nodded in understanding. This was going to be really dangerous. This wasn't like facing monsters. These were other half-bloods. We'd all learned from Luke how much more dangerous a demigod was than a monster. Oh gosh. It was only over a year since Luke had died and Kronos defeated, but it seemed like several lifetimes ago.
"When do we leave?" I asked.
"As soon as everyone's packed."
Author's Note: This is my first time writing a Percy Jackson fanfic so go a little easy on me. Also, I know this chapter is short but I'm hoping they'll get longer as I go along. Read and review.