(A/N): Wow, it's been a while since I've looked at this old thing. Being inspired by the forum of .. and her pals (Percy Jackson's Live It Up), I rescued it from gathering virtual dust and began editing. The forum made me remember how cool PjatO is, and I'm now really ashamed I forgot. The wait for Mark of Athena is driving me to madness, I guess. This storyline was conceived before HoO came out, but I'll be keeping it AU from recent events because I like the way it is now. Enjoy! I have other chapters undergoing serious editing, so expect updates soon.

Disclaimer: Oh my God, I knew there was something I forgot to put on my Christmas wish list last year...*facepalm*

At Fifth Age's End

Ch. 1

"Anything?" asked Artemis. I peeked through the bushes at the herd of deer. Our quarry, a female deer with a distinct limp to its back leg, put its head down to graze.

"Yes," I replied, glancing back my best friend, the Greek goddess of the hunt. Artemis fitted a silver arrow to her beautifully-crafted silver bow, sighting her shot lazily. I smiled and watched keenly as the glimmering arrow of moonlight spun through the air, heading unerringly for the target.

Twang! The doe fell, an arrow to the eye as the rest of the herd leapt off. Artemis and I worked our way over to inspect the kill. Chanting the ancient Greek blessing, we watched a wispy trail of smoke as it spiraled upwards, an animal's soul on its way to its place in the heavens. Artemis turned to face me.

"Do you think you can do better, Elena?" she challenged, a superior smile alighting her features.

I grinned slowly, letting my lips spread across my face leisurely. "Easy."

As we ran through the forest in the direction of the herd, I readied my bow, nocking the arrow with the ease of thirty years' practice. Of all the gods, Artemis is my truest friend. Since I fell into a self-induced coma thirty years ago, the gods have been my only companions. And until the Oracle's prophecy begins, they will continue to be. Meanwhile, I'm aging at a much slower rate than normal to compensate the delay. At the moment, I'm supposed to be about sixteen. Apollo says so, anyway.

We skidded to a crouch as we neared the herd. I took my time, circling the herd in a wide circle to get a better angle. Picking out a young buck, I let fly, feeling, rather than judging, my arrow's direction and momentum. It hit the young buck's neck as it sprang milliseconds too late from the path of the arrow. Twisting, it fell as the herd fled in a flurry of hooves and fur.

I walked unhurriedly, deliberately, towards the fallen deer. Artemis materialized a moment later, a look of bemused defeat on her face. I hadn't hit the desired spot of an eye, but even so, my kill was young and sprightly, harder to shoot than an injured deer.

"Alright, I concede." Then her trademark half-smile returned to its rightful place on her lips as she continued, "Just this once!"

I stuck out my tongue at her, an action that would have gotten me turned into a deer myself had she and I not considered each other equals. Murmuring the Greek blessing reverently, we watched as the silver smoke trailed upwards into the sky.

Our moment of peaceful silence was interrupted by a loud squawking. We turned in surprise as a raven carrying a message strapped to its foot flew towards us. Artemis frowned. "That is strange. I thought I had told Thalia where to go in my absence…" she trailed off as she pulled out the message and alighted upon the Olympian seal.

I drew closer, wondering what the message was about. Artemis does as she pleases, preferring to roam free with her immortal Hunters than to stay on Olympus. The letter was in Ancient Greek, but since Athena insists that I am fluent in that language, and Latin as well, I had no more difficulty reading it than Artemis. But the letter wasn't good news.

"Oh, of course. A lazy afternoon, and an emergency meeting crops up." I tried to hide my disappointment. I didn't enjoy being left in my comatose state alone, because it changes into a white blankness. Boring, to say the least.

"I am sorry. I really want to stay, but the Council demands my attention." She shouldered her kill easily, with all the grace of a panther.

With a melancholy wave, she started shimmering and I averted my eyes. I don't know if I would burn alive in a dream, but I wouldn't want to take the chance. When she disappeared, I stood and watched the forest fade into blank, white nothingness.

I am suffocated by the silence, made all the more obvious from the departure of my best friend.

Then, out of the blue, everything collapsed. Rather violently.

Where am I? I looked up, vision blurred, and saw a blue expanse with clouds. Panicking, I spun and tripped, disorientated. Catching myself in the nick of time, I slipped into a push-up stance. I was confused. Was someone sent to keep an eye on me during the meeting?

Then I groaned. "Not Demeter. The way she goes on about cereal..." But as I looked at the horizon and saw wide expanse go on forever before me, I realized I must've finally woken from my coma. The gods created a sort of globe illusion, and you could always see the boundary into blankness easily.

But if I was awake, that meant the dreaded prophecy was happening now.

I assessed my surroundings. A city of great beauty shone around me, with eternal torches and the smell of altar smoke (I assume, I've never smelt it in reality before) tickling my nose. It matched the description the gods had given me of their home, Olympus. They must have brought me here after I fainted. The Palace of the Gods, and so some answers, must be here somewhere. I followed the path I was on, heading for an elegant, dome-shaped structure. I climbed its steps, slowly, then picked up speed until I was skipping two at a time. I had to know what was going on.

Barely stopping at the top of the stairs, I braced my shoulders and slammed open the huge double doors.

The hairs on my arms tickled. My skin itched with the excess of power in the room. A total of twelve super-powerful beings, each five meters tall, made the air crackle with godly power. And they were staring at me hard, as if I would dissipate if they didn't.

"It seems we have a bigger threat than we initially assumed," rumbled the gravelly voice of Hephaestus, Lord of the Forges. A spark glowed in the depths of his beard.

"Yes, it does seem we need to call for the help of our children, once again," Athena's calm voice replied. She glanced at me reassuringly, and gave the tiniest of nods.

"We must contact Chiron immediately," said Poseidon, leaning forward in his seat. They all looked towards Dionysus, growing a grapevine from his armrest in utter boredom. I couldn't blame him. Wild drunken parties compared to stately Council adjournings were utter chaos.

When he noticed their pointed looks, he sighed, "Yes, I'll get right on it."

"Wait," I said, still half-stunned. "What is happening? What threat? What is so alarming that you must call an emergency Council of the Gods?"

Artemis smiled crookedly, "Well, we were just discussing what to do with this wayward Titan. We thought it would blow over, but now we see it's more serious than it looked."

"And who is this Titan? Atlas? Hyperion?" I remembered the few conversations I had with Apollo about the prophecy and what it meant.

There was an uncomfortable silence.

"Kronos?" I ventured. I had hoped that Luke Castellan, late son of Hermes, had destroyed Father Time so irreversibly that he would never regain a consciousness. But maybe…

"Not Kronos, dear, just…Krios," soothed Hestia, my second favorite goddess.

"Krios? The ram-horn Titan? Why is he such a pressing threat?" Krios, Lord of the Southern Constellations, wasn't the most despicable of Titans. Not in the least.

"He seems to be trying to launch another attempt against Olympus," rumbled Father Zeus.

"Chiron's on his way," Dionysus put in. He went straight back to pruning the grapevine curling artistically over his armrest to his satisfaction.

"Do not worry, Elena. You must go to Camp Half-Blood first to receive an official quest. We have faith in your abilities," reassured Artemis. There was a murmur of ascent.

"Thank you, Lady Artemis." I gave a formal bow. "And I am grateful for your care," I continued, bowing to the rest of the assembled gods. "Your training will serve me well, I am sure."

"And I am sure you will do your mother justice," said a voice, dispassionate and cool. I glanced up and saw a set of scales glittering like a chill over me.

Nemesis. Goddess of revenge and balance. Ethan Nakamura's mother. My mother.

The voice continued, whispering, "Be careful, dear. I don't play favorites, and if you cannot repay your debts, I will take what I feel is due."