Chapter One
(A/N) Am I doing this right? Haha. I am new at fan fiction, just thought I'd let you know. So this is my version for The Mark of Athena. I wanted to make a story about what I think will happen, and some that I don't think will happen, just putting my creativity out there. In this chapter I don't have a Percabeth reunion. Tear ): I wanted to wait until later, unlike most of the other stories on here. I will have it in the next couple of chapters, though. And, I don't know if this will be a Piper and Jason book (Jasper) but I think it will, instead of a Reyna and Jason (Jeyna). By the way, most of my chapters are pretty long... Anyways on with the story. Oh wait!
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians (PJO) or Heroes of Olympus (HoO). Rick Riordan is the real author, I am just some random fan girl. I am not Rick Riordan. Sniffle. Sniffle.
Chapter One (Annabeth)
Annabeth paced back and forth across the deck of the Argo ll, a ship created by a seriously ADHD demigod named Leo Valdez. Annabeth paced around, not wanting to wait. It had been eight long months since she saw her boyfriend: Percy Jackson.
Although she had not seen Percy for such a long time, she had a nagging sensation. What Percy is different? She mused. What if he didn't want to see her, because he had a new Roman girlfriend. Stop it! She chided. Percy is, and will always be my Seaweed Brain. There isn't anything that could change that. Right? Annabeth still had doubts in the back of her mind about Percy, but she needed to set them aside. Annabeth waited eight months. Surely, another eight minutes wouldn't kill her. She had to stick to the plan she made with the rest of the crew.
Piper was speaking in the background, obviously trying to get her lines right. "Romans," she started, "we come in peace. We mean no harm." Piper shook her head. The crew of the Argo ll only needed Piper's words if the Romans decided to attack them without hearing them out, first. Annabeth knew that if the Romans found out she was charmspeaking them, they might be in even more danger, and think they were trying to attack.
Piper had the ability to charmspeak. She was daughter of Aphrodite, but she did her best to hide it. Her hair looked like a do-it-yourself job, and she wore no make up, unlike the rest of her cabin mates, back at Camp Half-Blood. She didn't obsess over her clothes, and she didn't scream over every little thing all of Aphrodite's daughters would. Annabeth was wondering when we were going to land at Camp Jupiter. Speaking of Jupiter, where was Jason? Annabeth thought.
As if on cue, Jason came out. He was wearing jeans and a purple t-shirt, hoping the Romans would recognize him. Jason was a praetor at Camp Jupiter, but he knew his job must've been revoked, because they had a feast for good luck-either good or bad luck-and would have to rise a praetor by then. Annabeth wondered if Percy had taken any place of leadership at the Roman camp. He was usually forced into leadership, but handled it well.
Leo stormed up towards the deck and yelled: "We will be landing in about...hmmm...let's say...ten minutes in this war ship. Yeah. Let's go with that! Hopefully the Romans won't blast us out of the sky!"
"Did you send your scroll?" Piper asked, not sure what to call it. It was a scroll that was able to play a video on it, an invention he designed himself.
"Yes, Beauty Queen, I did. Don't worry, Caption Leo has it all under control!" Just then, the boat jerked to the right. Piper manged a laugh. "Like I said, all under control," Leo muttered after taking the wheel again.
Aboard the Argo ll there were four demigods and one satyr. The satyr, a very vicious satyr named Gleeson Hedge, would yell at anyone saying, "DIE! DIE!" and insisting that he saved the day every time there was a problem solved. Annabeth had insisted that he should take the day off. Annabeth wished it was Grover with them, but Grover was off busy doing his Lord of the Wild job.
Annabeth had also brought Blackjack along, because the pegasus followed them all the way to Rome. He must have found himself a pegasus friend, and went off in the direction we were heading towards. Blackjack was Percy's pegasus. Blackjack had refused to let anyone else ride him while Percy was gone.
The whole camp had been affected in Percy's absence. Of course, he had been replaced by Jason, but I think all of Camp Half-Blood agreed that it wasn't the same without Percy making plans, or doing something stupid that messed everything up.
Their plan was to meet their very unfriendly relatives, the Romans. The Greeks and Romans had been separated for a long period of time, because every time they got together, they would fight. The Romans had conquered the Greeks. They had adopted many of their techniques, but were better warriors. They worshiped the same gods under different names. The gods did not have as much contact as did the Greek gods.
Hera, also known as Juno, decided to finally united the Greek and Romans and last, to complete the next Great Prophecy, as the Greeks called it. By doing so, she scooped up Percy and sent him to the Romans, while Jason came to Half-Blood Hill. The first great prophecy was last year, during the Titan War. Actually, the second Titan War. Percy had lead the camp to victory, even though the prophecy said he was destined to die in the end. It went like this:
A half-blood of the most eldest gods,
Shall reach sixteen against all odds.
To see the world in an endless sleep,
Heroes soul, cursed blade shall reap.
A single choice shall end his days,
Olympus to preserve or raze.
Morpheus had put the entire city of New York to sleep. Kronos had invaded Manhattan. The hero was actually Luke, who took my knife, which was cursed because he broke a promise never to hurt me, and killed him, so he could defeat Kronos, who was hosting in Luke's body. Percy had made the choice to give Luke the dagger, which saved Olympus.
The next prophecy went like this:
Seven half-bloods shall answer the call,
to storm or fire, the world must fall,
An oath to keep with a final breath,
And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death.
Hopefully, they would start the prophecy by first sailing to Rome, then to Greece. The Earth goddess named Gaea, had opened the Doors of Death and created a race of giants to defy each of the Olympian gods. Jason had already destroyed one, who was meant to defy Annabeth's mother, Athena, goddess of wisdom and battle.
Gaea was not fully awake, but was awaking from her slumbers, to overthrow the Gods by starting at their roots, Greece and Rome, intending to dissolve the Gods forever.
You would think Gaea, being Mother Nature, would be happy with birds singing all around her. It was the opposite. She was forced into slumbers. Part of her conscience is still awake, trying to recruite everyone to her army.
"Caption Leo has successfully almsot landed the ship!" exclaimed a very loud Leo. Annabeth had been so lost in thought, she hadn't realized they had arrived. Annabeth looked over the deck, and heard a horn blare. The Romans must've noted them. I mean, who couldn't? They came on a huge Greek war ship with a dragon head on the front.
BOOM!
There was an explosion. A statue appeared. The statue had no arms. "No weapons inside the Pomerian Line!"
"Terminus, it's me, Jason Grace," Jason said.
"Jason, long time, no see. But you know the rules of Rome. No weapons in city boundaries. And this whole ship is a weapon! So get off, hand your weapons over, and no one gets hurt...Maybe," Terminus said. Terminus was the god of boundaries in Rome.
They all came to a silent agreement to get off the ship. The climbed down a ladder, Leo had been so nice to install. He wanted to have us jump off the sides into the water, until Annabeth reminded him they would not always be over water, and if they were, hitting water from that high would be like hitting concrete. Again, Annabeth thought of Percy, who was able to land in the water safely from high distances.
Jason was first to get off the ladder. Followed by Piper, Leo, and lastly Annabeth. Annabeth scanned the crowd. She looked and finally saw Percy. He had an arms around a baby-faced Chinese man, who looked about fourteen, but might be older, and a darker skinned girl who looked about thirteen. He looked towards me and smiled. He removed his arms from around the two people, and looked like he wanted to come forward, but decided to listen to Jason's speech.
"Romans. Please do not attack, we mean no harm, and-" he was cut off by a Roman girl in a toga with dark hair.
"Hello, Jason. Nice to see you again. But no worries. I have instructed my city not to attack you. Percy Jackson said you are here for a reason, which will be settled in the council, right now. He swore it on his life, that nothing would go wrong. If something does, even by accident...well...Rome is going to have to kill him."
"Nice to see you, again, Reyna," Jason said towards the girl in the toga. The Romans were going towards a building, and Reyna beckoned them to follow. Annabeth was now deathly afraid something would go wrong. Reyna must've noticed Annabeth in the back, and said, "Hello, Annabeth."
Annabeth looked confused. "Do I know you?" How could a Roman possibly know a Greek? Other then Percy and Jason, of course.
"No, I don't think I saw you there, but I know you saw my sister," As if on a script another girl came over, who looked just like Reyna, but older.
"Hello, Annabeth. Remember me. Hylla?"
Annabeth gasped. "Not Hylla from Circe's Spa and Resort?"
"Yes, that's me. You and Percy destroyed our home. Remember?" Annabeth nodded, stunned. "And Blackbeard and his pirates kept us captive. Being daughters of Bellona, my sister and I survived. I blamed you for a while, until Percy convinced me it was for the best. I became Queen of the Amazons, and Reyna became praetor at Camp Jupiter. It all worked out. No need to worry. I was tempted to kill Percy when I first saw him, but no more. I hold no grudge. I actually should thank you."
"I'm so sorry," Annabeth replied.
"Like I said before. Thank you, Annabeth! Now follow. We're going to be late for the meeting," Reyna replied. They walked up to the statue, Terminus.
"Weapons and ID. Get them ready!" He shouted.
When we approached the line, Terminus said, "Dagger, dagger, magic tool belt, sword. Take them out!" Reluctantly we all took our weapons out. "Place them on the tray-wait, where did Julia go? Julia! I see you!" He said and a girl came out of hiding and held up a tray. She was a cute little girl, about ten years old. Her hair was in pigtails and she was wearing a green dress. She held out her tray and made us pass over our weapons. After assuring us that she was a professional.
"Now, for ID."
"Uh, Mr. Terminus, sir, we don't have ID, so if you could just let us pass-" Piper started, putting all of her emotion into her voice.
"Don't try that charmspeak on me, missy!" Terminus exclaimed.
"Don't worry, Terminus. They are with me," Thankfully Reyna had come to our rescue.
"Fine. Fine. Move along. This one time only. Oh wait! See that rock, where I am pointing?" Terminus asked.
"Uh, you don't have any arms," Leo blurted out.
Terminus gave Leo a death glance, and looked down, as if noticing for the first time of his inconvenience. "Julia, point for me!" Julia put the tray down and pointed towards a small rock about the size of a shoe. "You, Jason, now that you are back, move the rock exactly one centimeter to the left-No, to the right-No wait back to the left." Jason moved the rock so it was in the same spot as before. "Perfect. Move along!"
We all continued to a building, where we each took a seat. Annabeth was glad to see Tyson in the back, along with a harpy? The harpy was blushing almost as much as Tyson. The harpy had red feathers. Her blush almost matched the color of her wings. Tyson waved to Annabeth and Annabeth waved back, happy to see he had arrived at camp safely. Once they all took their seats, Annabeth's next to Jason, who was next to Piper, who was next to Leo. Annabeth noted that Percy was sitting next to Reyna.
"The chairs for praetors," Jason explained. "Looks like your boyfriend got elected," Jason looked a bit jealous, but hid it very well.
"The meeting will now begin," Reyna said, standing up. "We are here to discuss the Prophecy of Seven."
There were a couple gasps and talk of, eagles, Alaska, and water cannon up someones nose. Annabeth wasn't sure about all of them, but was pretty sure Percy had something to do with the water cannons.
Immediately, a guy with sandy blonde hair and blue eyes stood up. He reminded Annabeth strangely of Luke. Except for the words that came out of his mouth. And his whole personality matched Luke's almost as well as a black hole and Luke. "The omens are terrible! We must not tempt fate!" The boy was holding a stuffed animal, which was weird, since the guy looked about eighteen.
"Octavian," Percy stood up. "we are not tempting fate. Like I said before, Juno's plan was to unite the Greeks and Romans to open the Doors of Death. That is what the Prophecy of Seven is about. Seven half-bloods, booth Greek and Roman, make a journey to The Doors of Death and close them. Later, we will have to travel to Rome, than Greece. Gaea is planning to destroy the gods forever, by starting at their roots: Greece and Rome."
"And how do you know this, Percy Jackson? You must be working for Gaea! A spy! A spy!" Annabeth was so mad at this Octavian guy, she was ready to throw her knife at him. She would've except her knife was confiscated.
"Octavian," Reyna spoke up and stood, "Percy is a true hero of Rome," on those words Jason and Annabeth exchanged glances that were saying: Wait. What? Reyna continued on. "He defeated Polyboltes and saved our whole camp. He went to Alaska and saved the Legion's Crown. And if he was a spy, why would he be telling us the plans?" Annabeth suspected that the last question was rhetorical, not meaning to be answered.
Annabeth realized that Octavian was a talker. He wanted everyone to believe his words. But this time, even Octavian couldn't think of anything to say. Luckily, the girl who was with Percy stood up. "Praetors, if I may?" She asked for permission.
"Go on, Hazel Levesque," Reyna granted permission.
"The other demigods arrived on the ship," She nodded to the four that had arrived on the ship. "One of them is Jason Grace," Heads turned. Jason gave a shy wave.
Octavian took that as an opening to start talking again, "How do you know that these three Greeks," He said the word as if we were someone who had just punched him in the face, "and Jason are part of the prophecy. What if Jason is a spy for the Greeks?"
"Octavian. Shut up on that last part," There was a few laughs about Reyna telling someone to shut up, "but, good point on the first," Reyna turned towards the four. "What have you done to prove yourself worthy?"
Jason stood up. He explained their story, about how they had rescued Hera, which was definitely Hera, and how she had spoken individually to each of them, saying they were each part of the seven. Juno/Hera had picked them herself. Piper and Leo added in parts he forgot while explaining their story, and building the Argo ll.
"What about, that one?" Octavian asked, pointing towards Annabeth. Annabeth didn't know why she was part of this quest to Rome or to close the Doors of Death. She didn't even know what to say. Luckily she didn't have to speak. There was a sudden light, which everyone knew to avert their eyes. When the light died down, the Romans were shocked.
"Juno," Baby-Faced Chinese Man said first, and began to bow.
"No need to bow. Too little time. I have come to explain about the seven. Indeed, Annabeth is part of this quest, no matter how much I hate her, even in Juno form as well as in Hera, she will play a very important role. She has a choice coming up. I can not give you too much detail. As for Percy Jackson, my loose cannon, or distraction, is also a member. Frank Zhang, Leo Valdez, Piper McLean, Jason Grace, and Hazel Levesque. You are the seven. End of discussion."
"But My Lady," Octavian bowed, even though she said not too.
"End of discussion!" Juno repeated again. With that, she popped out of the room.
"Percy, why did she call you a loose cannon?" Reyna asked.
"Because, she put me to sleep for a while, so I would be missing from my camp, because if I was there, I would've been a 'loose cannon' as Juno referred to it in my dream," Percy mumbled.
"Oh," Reyna said, looking awkward and changed the subject quickly by saying, "So the seven have been chosen."
"What will be your means of transportation?" Someone in the crowd asked.
Leo got a mischievous grin on his face. "The Argo ll."
"So a boat will take you to Rome. Then to Greece. Then to the Doors of Death?" Someone else asked in the crowd. His mouth was stained with red. Annabeth feared it was wine, and he was one of Dionysus's-er-Bacchus's kids who was drunk.
"Not just any boat, but basically, Wine Man!" Leo answered.
"'Wine Man?'" The person looked insulted. "I'm Dakota. And this is just Kool-Aid."
"Oops!" Leo said. "But yeah. That's our plan. Playing it by year."
"Because that works so well every time!" Octavian muttered but everyone heard him.
"Yes, Octavian," Percy spoke. Annabeth was proud to see that he didn't do anything stupid. She thought he must've changed a lot, because usually Percy would trip and fall or something by now. "it does work! Just a couple of days ago, Hazel, Frank and I all came back with Death free from his chains and your Legion's Crown. We had no plan what-so-ever except to go to Alaska like Mars said too."
"The last person who tried to interpret what the prophecy was about was the same guy who lost the eagle in the first place!" Octavian basically shouted. Some people nodded.
"I also saved the crown from Alaska. Your two most respected gods-Juno and Mars came to the camp. Would they have come if this wasn't something big going on? And Juno herself just confirmed that the Prophecy of Seven is beginning!" Percy countered. Everyone nodded. Everyone agreed. Except Octavian. He sat down and tried not to look embarrassed, then smiled like this was all his idea.
"Then it's settled. We will send the seven off tomorrow morning. But first, we must assign each new arrival a cohort. Until then, this meeting is adjourned," Reyna said. Then glanced over at all of us, and stopped at Percy, "You seven will have a rough couple of weeks. Best of luck." She looked sympathetically at all of them like she was deciding what size coffin we would fit in.
(A/N) Sorry for the ending. I know this chapter was long, but I really wanted it to be more like an introduction. I hope you liked, whoever is reading this. Please click review and tell me what you think. (: Please. (: