Chapter 1

On Setting Out

Leonidas Valdez

Black. That was all I could see in front of me. Beginning to panic, I took a step back, only to fall flat on my rear. The blackness ahead of me became ringed in rock, almost as dark as the opening before of me. A very deep rumbling, akin to laughter of the wickedest kind, sprang forth from said opening.

"Soon, my child. Soon, you shall be here, and from here we shall watch all that you love burn." The voice laughed once more, the volume and power shaking the whole of the cavern. I shook as well, though whether because of the monster in the blackness, or out of fear, I knew not.

"Leo!" a voice from nowhere seemed to scream out. "Leo!" it called again, this time very obviously behind me. I turned, trying to see who it was. All I could see was the outline of someone, likely a girl judging by the length of her hair and the sound of her voice. She threw something to me, a hammer of gold and bronze, and I grabbed it. Standing, I slowly turned back to face the darkness, when…

"Leo!"

"Ah!" I shouted, face hitting the rug-covered floor. "What… who… What was that for?" I finally stammered out.

"You've been summoned, you fool. Get dressed. You have a long day ahead of you." With that, a set of clothes were dropped on my head.

"Thanks," I mumbled from where I lay, face in the carpet with a pile of clothes on top of me. "Idiot," I said, even quieter, hoping that she had not heard me. A kick in the side told me otherwise. The fading footsteps told me that the perpetrator, likely my half-sister Nyssa, had left. Groaning, I stood, a sock sticking to my ear.

I dressed quickly, knowing that the lord of our village, Magis, would not like to be kept waiting. I pulled on the shirt, leggings, and socks that had oh-so-ungracefully been dumped on me and made my way out.

"Repair Boy!" someone called, throwing an arm around my shoulders as we walked. It was Pollux, the town inn-keeper, who also owned the local bar. "'ow's me favorite son o' Hef'tus doin' teday?" he said in his barely-understandable northern accent.

"Fine, fine. And it's Hephaestus, not Hef'tus." Pollux, one of only a few sons of Dionysus, shrugged, not caring. I managed to shake Pollux off, loosing him on the unsuspecting group of demigods before us. See, that's what makes us different from the other nearby towns. Nearly everyone here is a son or daughter of an Olympian God or Goddess. While other people hunted us down, or, in a few rare cases, worshiped us, here we were all treated as equals. Our leader, Chiron, had decided that someone needed to gather all these swordsmen and bowmen and put us somewhere safe, where we could train, building our powers and learning to use them well.

Several calls of "Hey Leo" in various forms and statements made for a rather longer walk than normal. See, I am a strange case. While many of my fellow demigods have useful skills like healing, sword fighting, or shooting, I have, well, nothing. At least, nothing useful. Unless you want to burn a city to the ground, that is. I'm what's often called a "duel accursed one", as I am both a son of a god, believed to be a bad thing when among mortals, and also cursed to have fire powers. Perseus says otherwise, that they're just as useful as his own hydrokinesis, or controlling water with his mind, but I think otherwise. Speaking of the son of Poseidon…

"Leonidas! Didst Chiron call thou, as well, my good friend?" I nodded as the blond fell into step beside me. I guess I did have one advantage over everyone else here: I have no trouble what-so-ever understanding nearly any accent, with Pollux's being among the only ones.

"Any clue as to why he called?" I asked, switching into Ancient Greek, one of the only ways to readily communicate with anyone else.

"No; I had been hoping you knew. I asked Annabeth, but she wouldn't answer." Annabeth was the oldest daughter of Athena, and Perseus' beloved. When I first saw her, I initially mistook her for a daughter of Aphrodite. Perseus had quickly corrected that, then proceeded to beat my stomach with his fists. It took three, nay, four people to remove the violent demigod from me. Since then, he and I had gotten along rather well, all things considered.

Soon, the two of us were joined by Piper, an actual daughter of Aphrodite, who was also my greatest of friends, and Annabeth, who quickly attached herself to Perseus. Piper seemed torn between giggling at the "cuteness of it all", as Drew, her buffoon of a half-sister, called it, and rolling her eyes at the embarrassment from the same. Together, we walked up to the Grand Keep, where lord Chiron lived, along with a few others.

Reaching the open doors, we walked up a set of stairs, a red carpet running down the centre of the hall, with rare stained glass windows depicting some of the Heroes of Olde: Jason, the leader of the Argonauts; Theseus, slayer of the Minotaur; Ajax, Achilles, and Odysseus, heroes of Troy; and more besides: Heracles, Perseus the first, Janiya, Lee, Grant, Perseus, Annabeth, Clarisse, myself; Chiron truly loved us as though we were his own.

We entered a large room, the Court of Olympus, it was called. It was an apt name, as the ceiling of the room held a statue of each Olympian seated upon their respective throne, arrayed in the same fashion as that of Olympus its self. I smiled and nodded towards the depiction of Hephaestus. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw each of my friends do the same toward their parent.

At the far end of the Court, Chiron stood, facing away from us, his black tail swishing slightly. His armor, which he wore only because anything else would look strange or out of place, what with the white horse that took up the lower half of his body. He seemed to be talking with someone, so the four of us held back a tad while we awaited our instructions. Not more than a moment later, Chiron stopped talking, and turned his head to see us.

"Excellent. Come here, my friends. There is someone you must needs meet," he told us in Greek. We walked up, Piper at my side, Annabeth at Perseus', and saw a red haired girl, not more than six-and-ten summers old, like Piper and myself, making her a year younger than that of our companions. "Everyone, this is Rachelle. Rachelle, these are Perseus, Annabeth, Leo, and Piper." We nodded as Chiron introduced us. "You five are to travel south-east, to the city of Nova Roma, and its out-lying estate, Jovis."

"I don't recognize those names; where are they?" Annabeth asked.

"And why are we leaving?" Piper inquired further. Chiron held up his hands.

"Peace. All shall be explained. First, Rachelle is our Oracle, meaning she is blessed with bouts of Prophesy, though oft it is unable to be understood upon being spoken. Second, I wish for you to take this missive," he handed Perseus a scroll, "to the protector of Jovis, Lupa. She will understand, and make arrangements for you five. All of you are to stay there for three cycles of the moon. Once this has been done, you may choose to either return here, or stay as you so desire. Questions are now to be accepted." We glanced at each other, waiting for some else to speak up first. When no one was forthcoming, Chiron dismissed the five of us, saying that we would be leaving the following morning, and as the trip would be at least a fortnight long, we had best ready ourselves.

Perhaps I should explain: we live in the middle of nowhere, far from the prying eyes of the mortals, but at the same time, far from the nearest town, meaning oft we need to make a camp. Furthermore, as demigods, we frequently attract attention, usually in the form of monsters like Dracnae, or Cyclopes. This means that we are always readying to fight. In truth, the life of a demigod rarely exceeds eight-and-ten years. The oldest in our feodom, is a mere one-and-twenty winters old. The only reason he lived this long is because he was wounded too badly to continue fighting, so now he resides within the Keep, along with Chiron.

"Shall we, as the long-aged saying goes, divide and conquer?" Perseus asked. Piper looked at me wondering what he had said.

"He asked if we should split up," I clarified.

"Oh… What do we need? And where are we going?"

"Hm… he never did answer that, did he?" Annabeth said, more to herself than anyone else. At this point, Rachelle decided to speak up.

"I have this here map, if anyone cares," she said, shaking a scroll and gaining all of our attention. We gathered around a nearby table as Rachelle unrolled it, revealing its contents to us.

A simple map, it was not much more than a handful of landmarks and a few estates. Thick, heavy lines depicted the edges of feodoms, while lighter, thinner lines showed roads connecting estates and cities that lay within. It was easy to find ετεροθαλής συγγενής, as it was circled in red, as was Nova Roma.

"Aliquam Tiberim? What does that mean?" I asked, pointing at a strange moat-like object encircling Nova Roma. Annabeth stood up, hand to her temple, as though deep in thought.

"It seems familiar… Where though… Gah!" she cried in frustration, throwing her hands into the air. "It seems so close! As though I should know!"

"Is it another language?" I asked, curious. Why, exactly, escaped even me. All I was, and still am, was a simple metal worker; even the children of Morpheus, the god of slumber and dreams, knew this. Granted, I am better than many… ah, well.

"Ahem," a person sounded, clearing her throat. We looked up at Piper. "Well, are we going to pack, or just rough it? While that might sound fun to you lot, that sounds much less so to me." With that, she spun around on her heel, and she walked, confidence pouring out of her, back to her, and her siblings', dwelling.

"She's right." Annabeth immediately went into action, telling each of us what to bring and what to leave behind. When she had finished her tirade, Piper was walking back to us, dress replaced by a form-fitting shirt with low V in the neck, vest, and leggings, with hiking boots having taken the place of her sandals. Her long blond hair was no longer simply hanging loose, but was now in a single braid reaching about half way down her back. A pair of gold earrings, able to become a shield and breastplate, hung from her ears. Completing the look was the saw-toothed double-edged sword, taken from a son of Boreas, Zethes, which hung loosely from her hip, while her dagger, Katoptris, was in its sheathe on her right boot.

"I'm ready when e'er you are," she said, smirking at us. I quickly shut my mouth, though how it opened without me noticing was unknown, shook my head and walked back to my dwelling that I shared with my own half-siblings. Walking in, I made sure to avoid stepping in any of the plethora of traps, scrap metal, or random weapons, some completed, others not. Being the dwelling councilor, I made sure that all of my brethren were awake, or well on their way, before packing. I grabbed an empty booklet, a rarity outside of Dwelling Nine or Six, which belonged to the children of Athena, like Annabeth or her brother, Jake. I also made sure to buckle on my magical belt, which had no limits as to what it could produce as long as they could readily be found within a forge, some clothes, and my only weapon, a modified hammer I had named Mart, short for martillo, Spanish for hammer. So, maybe not the most creative name, but it works.

As I held it, preparing to leave, I thought back to my dream from last night. In all of the excitement from earlier, I had all but forgotten about it. Holding Mart, I was certain that the hammer in my hands was the same, or at least very similar to the one from my dream. This, of course, made me wonder at who could have thrown it. Never had I let anyone touch this weapon, as while forging it, I somehow had imbued it with my fire powers, making it highly volatile. It was, much like myself, prone to randomly igniting for no apparent reason. For this reason, I, as the only demigod immune to heat and fire, allowed no one save myself to wield it.

I shivered as I thought of the Blackness that had talked to me. Maybe I should tell the others, especially seeing as how Perseus and Annabeth often spoke of having dreams like these. As a demigod, we rarely had dreams that were merely that. They were more often found to be premonitions of the future, or of current happenings. Based on the context, I would venture to guess that it was one of the future.

Shrugging my shoulders, I walked to the granary and collected a few spices and herbs, knowing that we would be more than able to find plenty of game to hunt or fish. A few fruits and vegetables later, and more than a few golden drachmas later, and I returned to the table where we had met. In spite of the fact that I thought that I had moved quickly, I noticed that I was the last to arrive, save only Annabeth.

"She's bartering with Katie," Piper replied when I asked where the Athenian was. She moved a piece on a checkered board, taking one of Perseus' own. Rachelle was watching with only mild interest. Katie was the councilor of the children of Demeter, Goddess of farming, bartering, and fairness.

"Sorry! Sorry!" Annabeth called out to us running towards us with a grin on her face. She was dressed much like Piper: shirt, though less form-fitting, vest, leggings, boots, dagger, and hair all the same. She had no sword to use, however. Across her neck, almost hidden, was a necklace which could allow the wearer to turn invisible at will. At her side was a satchel, stuffed with… something. Each of us had one, but Annabeth was the only wearing hers. "I was able to get these." She reached into said satchel and withdrew a canteen with a gold-tinted, but otherwise clear, liquid, and a pouch of mutlicoloured flakes.

"Nectar and ambrosia?" Piper asked. Annabeth nodded, confirming what we all knew. The two items were worth more than nearly anything else in the town, as they were the food and drink of the gods themselves. Few people outside of Apollo or Demeter kids had the healing items, as they were medics and creators of the stuff, respectively. To mortals, these were instant death, and it would be to a demigod that ate or drank too much, but in small, rationed amounts, these two items could heal nearly any wound, as long as it was not life-threatening.

"Well, then, why wait until tomorrow?" Rachelle asked. We looked at her, then around at each other. Shrugging, we agreed. All of us standing, I got my first good look at this so-called Oracle.

Rachelle was dressed in a free-flowing dress that reached her ankles. She wore well-built sandals, not terribly different to the ones that the Olympians were thought to wear. She had a quiver on her back with an unstrung yew bow, a very light, but strong bow, and a purple sleeveless shirt, revealing muscled arms, much to my surprise. A satchel sat at her waist, just like the rest of us.

Perseus was decked similar to me. Simple shirt, vest, and leggings, but also with a sword sheathe on his left hip, bearing no weapon. His belt was not even as close to awesome as mine, merely allowing him to have stronger skin, thus deflecting weaker blows with ease. He walked, as always, with a duality: a great sense of purpose, but also as though the weight of the world were across his back.

And no wonder, really. In a foul ploy for power, Atlas had managed to kidnap Annabeth and make her bear the weight of the Sky, and Perseus, upon seeing her doing this, took the weight from her. While Atlas now remained trapped once more, both demigods now had a permanent stripe of grey hair in the front of their heads, a bitter reminder of what they had done.

Calls of "Be careful," "Have fun!", "Good luck!" and the like were sent from everyone we passed. Outside of our feodom, we would be in constant danger, and thus our lives would truly be a fight for survival. Knowing this, Perseus led our group out.

On the way to one of the only paths in or out, we passed fields of all sorts of crops, mainly strawberries and grain, which we sold to nearby towns and villages. Passing these, we began walking through the Forest. Why it had no real name, I know not. If it did, it would most likely be Nymph Forest, as more than half of the trees were also nymphs, and the lake, deep in the Forest, was home to many nymphs as well. According to rumor, Perseus and his half-brother, Tyson, had built a dwelling for themselves underwater, but neither ever confirmed this. Annabeth insisted that it existed, but in truth, it matters not. No one save a child of Poseidon could reach anything that lay beneath the surface.

"Perce!" someone bleated out, having at us. It was Grover, a satyr, who was easily Perseus' best of friends. With odd, goat-like legs, he often had a hard time hiding among the mortals, but unlike the rest of us, he would not attract any monsters, so he had that going for him. At his side stood a nymph, named Juniper, who wore a simple green and brown dress, matching her tree perfectly. We made our way over, knowing Perseus would "have" to speak to his old friend.

"Where be ye traversing off to?" he asked, a strange combination of Perseus' accent, and his own, natural one.

"A town a fortnight from here, named Diovis. We are to meet a woman there, Lupa, and deliver unto her a missive from lord Chiron." Piper looked at me, questioning once more. I shook my head, silently trying to say that I would tell her later. Really, after living with people like Perseus and Grover, as well as Lacy and Travers, she ought to know and understand their accent. But, alas, such was not the case. I tuned back into the conversation, only to hear that it was concluding.

"I doth wish thou all a safe and valuable journey." He and Perseus clasped each other's right arm and embraced. Perseus did the same to Juniper, much to Annabeth's mostly concealed dismay. With that, she roughly grabbed Perseus' arm and dragged him down the path, forcing the three of us to run to catch up. Behind us, we heard Grover and Juniper laughing, deep in hysterics. And thus we left Magis.

Author's Note: Most of the characters will have their full names spoken, since they are in Medieval Europe. Also, the demigods come from all around the continent, so they will all have at least somewhat different accents. Finally, the foreign languages that narrator understands will have their translations at the very end. Like this:
ετεροθαλής συγγενής- Greek for half-blood

Review! ~Ron, the son of Poseidon