The Regency

Chapter I - A Solemn Vision

Even before his dream, Percy knew that something was wrong in Olympus. The weather around Manhattan had been stormy the entire week, even in late spring, yet thunder and lightning never visited. But the most telltale sign was that the gates to Olympus were closed…and Annabeth was locked in with the gods. Even though he was glad for Annabeth, he had been disappointed that her job as Olympus's architect would keep her within its vicinity for the majority of her time.

He remembered how Annabeth had told him about how time consuming the job was.

"The gods are so demanding. They almost act like children. Oh no, Artemis wants another statue of a man getting mauled. The glass is scratched in my sun room. I want my personal space observatory," she had said, listing just a few of the complaints.

And then, there was his dream.

For the entire year round, no dreams plagued his nights, and for a second, Percy had thought that things had finally settled down in his life. No more gods trying to kill him. No more world needing saving. No more incidents that would send the country in a nation wide manhunt…again.

But the Fates just loved to prove him wrong. The dream had started simple enough; he was on Olympus, the city of the gods. It was still patchy, like a half woven quilt, and the destruction brought by the Titan War was still prominent. The temple of Aphrodite still looked like Zeus's Fist (or the Poop Pile). The statue of Artemis still resembled a half eaten jackalope. But these pockets of destruction were relatively hidden behind the new constructs.

Percy was amazed by how fast Olympus had been rebuilt. When he was last there, the place had looked like a third grader's LEGOs after being stopped on by a very angry mom. Now wide avenues led from all corners of the city to the center, where the Olympian's throne room was to be. Percy counted fourteen avenues, stretching down so far that it looked like they went on forever. They all converged in the center, like a giant target. Twelve avenues were dedicated to the Olympian gods, one for each, while the last two were for the minor gods and goddesses. Each avenue had their own personal touch to it; Artemis's looked more like a hunting ground, while Aphrodite's looked like a busy street with boutiques and shops along the entire way. He remembered faintly that Annabeth had told him that she modeled the new road system after Paris, which followed a similar design.

"Percy!" a voice whispered. He whirled around to see Annabeth, hiding behind a statue of Athena. A million questions burst into his mind but before he could ask any Annabeth pulled him behind the statue and covered his mouth. "Not now Percy. I don't know how long this connection can last but it's urgent."

Percy gently took off her hand from his mouth. "What's going on? Why's Olympus closed and what's with the scary weather?"

"I can't tell you," she said. He noted that she looked troubled, and had dark circles under her eyes. "Even making contact with you is touchy. You have to promise that you don't tell anyone of this dream. Not until you've told Chiron. He'd know what to do."

"But-"

"Promise me," Annabeth said, "please."

Percy didn't know what persuaded him; her anguished look or that fact that it was Annabeth. If she was as worried as she looked, then something must be wrong.

"I promise. But now will you tell me what's going on?"

"I'm not completely sure," she admitted. "I've only heard the rumors among the minor gods. One thing is for sure though. The gods are fighting. Hera and Zeus are no where to be seen. With them gone, there's a power vacuum. And then there are whispers of other gods. Entire new pantheons."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa slow down. What's a pantheon? Isn't that like a temple in Rome or something?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "No - well technically yes but that's not what I'm talking about." Her voiced was hushed and hurried, and her stormy eyes flicked around, as if she were doing something illegal. "A pantheon is a collection of gods specific to a religion. Like the Egyptian pantheon or Celtic pantheon."

Thunder rumbled in the distance, and Percy could almost swear she heard the sounds of battle. For a second, Annabeth's figure flickered, like a bad radio connection.

"I can't keep this connection any longer. Aphrodite's gonna kill me." She mumbled the last part under his breath.

Percy's eyes shot straight open. "Wait, Aphrodite is letting you talk to me? Why her of all the gods?"

Annabeth fidgeted in her spot. "She thinks that it's…cute that I'm trying to contact you." A light blush crept up to her cheeks and she looked down. Percy could feel his cheeks flare as well. Suddenly, Annabeth's figure began to flicker again, starting to become more and more ghostlike. "I'm out of time. I have already said more then I should have. The rest is for you to find out."

Without warning, she stepped out and hugged Percy tightly, whispering in his ear, "Remember the sky." Before he could ask what she meant, her figure evanesced, with the rest of Olympus. The last thing that Percy saw was the avenue of Zeus, still in flames like a war zone.

Extremely annoyed right now that I had to wait so long to post this! First, I had to wait two hours, no big deal. But then, after the two hours were over, it said I had to wait another two days! _

Anyways, I know this is kinda short but I promise, the next chapter will be longer. (1,500 words+?)

This is my first fanfic so be nice plz!