Prologue

Chapter 1: The Return of Sable

AD 2010

She was back.

The one that made it to Camp Half Blood at the age of three. The one who possessed an exceptional mind and level of skill. It was said that not a single soul at Camp could even get close to breaching her defences when they battled with their swords. Those that witnessed her at the archery fields saw her hit her targets arrow after arrow. Her targets that can reach up to almost five kilometres away. And it was not uncommon for her arrows to directly pierce through the shaft of the arrows already stuck to the target. And others mentioned about her superiority in battle strategies. Every single team she was in for capture the flag, the team would seem to win with ease. Mostly credited to some of the most flawless plans she had that would ensure her teammates would reach the flag easily. She was regarded as nothing short of a legend.

Yet, apart from her prowess in the battlefield and the various competitions held at camp, nobody knew anything else about her. The campers had no clue of her background, her past. They did not even know her name. She kept her distance from the rest. And no one dared to approach her. Possibly because of the aura that she constantly emits. A powerful aura that was equivalent to the gods. Some thought she had an aura even more powerful than the gods. But none dared to mention that. For fear of the retributions if the gods knew that their children felt a mere five year old girl was stronger than them. The only one that ever saw that was remotely closer to her, was Chiron.

Respected for her power and natural leadership, she was recognised by everyone as the leader of the Camp. Including Percy Jackson, who had managed to spend his first year at camp with her after his adventure with the lightning bolt. When she vanished into thin air after her sixth birthday, no one ever heard from her again. It was as if she was wiped off the face of the planet. Even when the Camp was battling Kronos, and after Kronos was defeated, she did not appear. A few years after her departure, many completely forgotten about her. After all, they had more worrying matters plaguing them like the imminent war approaching, than a child that went missing.

And now, seven years later, she has return. Looking stronger, harsher and more dangerous as ever. She has returned not long after the arrival of Jason Grace, and the disappearance of Percy Jackson.

η τελική στάση~~~η τελική στάση~~~η τελική στάση~~~η τελική στάση~~~η τελική στάση~~~η τελική στάση~~~η τελική στάση~~~η τελική στάση~~~

"Sable." That was the only sign Chiron gave to the twelve year old girl approaching him. The girl did not see offended or surprised at Chiron's cold demeanour towards her. In fact, her face remained expressionless, and as stone cold as Chiron's greeting towards her.

Sable stood right next to him, turning to face the Canoe Lake. The cool, comforting breeze that was gently greeting her did nothing to dispel her worries. Especially the main subject of her worries she would be mentioning to Chiron.

"Where have you been all this while, Sable? I have been desperately trying to contact you for the past few years. When the Camp needed your help, when I needed your help, where in Hades were you?" Chiron attempted to keep his cool, but soon exploded into a rant. "Why! Why did you abandon us when trouble was coming? And you did not even have the decency to leave a message. It's not like you. Running away from trouble! Not bothering about me. I even wanted to think that the reason you let us suffer is because you were dead rather than because of the fact You Don't Care!"

"It's my thirteenth birthday tomorrow." Sable interrupted, not looking at him in his eyes.

That one sentence robbed the centaur of his voice, rendering him incapable of throwing further accusations at Sable.

"I…I…I have forgotten. How are you feeling right now?"

Sable finally turned to look at Chiron in his eyes. After so long, he still could not help himself from flinching every single time he look into her eyes. Sable's eyes are one of the most beautiful, yet dangerous things he ever witnessed. If anyone looked closely, her irises never have a definite colour. Constantly shifting and changing, there was literally a symphony of lights occurring in her irises, a great sight to behold. Yet, there was underlying darkness. The symphony of lights is often interrupted by sudden bursts of black. When Sable was frustrated, upset, or in pain, the blackness would appear even more prominently. If Sable was feeling intense negative emotions, the blackness would overcome all the other colours, leaving the irises to bear a solid black colour that seemed to promise danger. The more intense her emotions, the more danger her eyes seemed to pose. Chiron did see it happen before. Once. That pair of eyes with pure black irises still haunted his dreams. Sable's eyes also seemed incredibly ancient. Many say that our eyes are the windows to our souls. The darker the eyes one possess, the darker the experiences one has. And Sable's eyes reflected that she had been through immense suffering. An experience no youths should ever have.

And at that moment, Sable's eyes were black, with only a hint of colour poking through the darkness.

"I… I don't know. Chiron. I am so confused. I didn't get the same foreboding feeling I had previously. It seems as though… that this time, everything will be different."

Sable did not wait for Chiron to respond.

"It seems that this would be the final one. The final one I will ever experience. The signs are everywhere, Chiron. The night before I left camp, I saw it. I saw it on my mirror. He's waking. My time is coming. And I am terrified. So, I left camp immediately. I need to start preparing without any distractions. I need to make sure that I am emotionally and physically ready. This camp is a distraction. I had to leave. I wasn't ready back then to handle both my emotions, my future, and the camp. I promised myself I will only return when I am ready."

Sable went silent, allowing Chiron a moment to take in the bomb she had just launched at him.

"You're sure he's waking?"

"Yes."

"But when we were fighting the Titans…"

Sable gave an exasperated sigh. "You know that it was not my fight. I cannot interfere. Besides, your heroes have performed exceptionally well without my help. Besides, I had… had to attend to another crucial matter. In the time I was gone, I have kept up my training. Making myself stronger so we have a chance against him."

Despite the seriousness of the conversation, Chiron could not help but mention an old joke, with a slight grin on his face. "Still managing with four hours of sleep per day?"

"Oh no. I figured four hours was too much. Couple of hours a day." Sable grinned in response.

"I do hope you are not serious and you are not trying to kill yourself."

"I am, like always, deadly serious. And I don't need to try to kill myself. My enemies had made plenty of attempts to do so.

Chiron shut his eyes, struggling to ask Sable the pressing question on his mind.

"Yes. I had everything to do with the disappearance of Perseus. You should remember that I do have the ability to read minds. Hera did owe me a favour. The rise of the giants and Gaia is the perfect opportunity for me to start building my forces against him. Perseus is possibly one of the greatest demigods to thread upon the Earth. He has to be pushed further, to be prepared for greater responsibilities. Plus, his disappearance would allow the two camps to have a chance against Gaia. I'm helping the camp, Chiron. I always am."

Chiron looked at the Canoe Lake with his sunken face, looking older than ever.

"I have enough to absorb for one night. Will you… will you still be here tomorrow?"

Sable only gave a slight smile, and made to walk away. "I'm pretty sure I would not be leaving any time soon. But, sometimes, I really wish that it will be like all my previous times. It seems that his awakening is inevitable. Funny really, I have always resented this curse. But this time, I really wish with all my heart that I will die tomorrow. When the clock strikes midnight and I turn thirteen, I sincerely hope I will die."

With that, Chiron watched with a heavy heart as Sable strode into the trees, until he could see her no more.

'The Final Stand' will feature many characters from several of my favourite series, namely Percy Jackson (Rick Riordan), Harry Potter (JK Rowling), and Lord of the Rings (JRR Tolkien). A few characters from Ranger's Apprentice(John Flanagan) will also be present. This is my 5th attempt trying to write this story. I started developing the idea for this story when I was nine, after reading Harry Potter. I spent much of my free time in the past 7 years developing the story further, and editing it. Strange how the plot becomes darker and darker the older I become. Sigh. Hope you guys stick around. This is going to be a pretty long story~~~

Hope you guys enjoy this chapter :)