The Four Horsemen
On July 7th, it was a normal day in Camp Halfblood, at least, at first it was. The sun was shining, a few clouds in the sky, everyone chatting and laughing during lunchtime, and some games to play led by the Camp Leader, Chiron. Dionysus, or as he likes to be known as, Mr. D, was a Camp Leader as well, but he never liked many of the demigods in Camp Halfblood, other than his sons, Pollux and Castor. Unfortunately, Castor had died in a battle years before, and Dionysus has been on edge trying to keep Pollux alive.
Leo Valdez, a son of Hephaestus, was outside in the sun, fiddling with his Archimedes Sphere, which he had taken a few years in the past, during a quest. He made small changes in the circuits, fixed them, and looked for more things to fiddle with. Small projects like mechanical songbirds and insects. A few hours crept by, and Leo set down the Sphere. He sighed, put his arms behind his head, and stared at the sun from his spot in which he was fiddling with the Sphere, as the sun started to set.
After about 10 minutes of sun-watching, Leo stood up, grabbed his sphere, and headed back to the Hephaestus cabin. His last project of the day was a mechanical snake, which would hiss and bite at anyone who tried to enter his room. Leo's room used to belong to the old Hephaestus cabin leader, Charles Beckendorf, but he had died in an explosion when Kronos the Time Titan had risen and attacked Olympus. There wasn't much left to do with Leo's snake project, but he made a few finishing touches, and installed it to his wall, hidden, so that it would pop out and scare the intruder.
Suddenly, Archimedes' Sphere had started to whirl and make noises, that sounded like rusty gears trying to work in strong wind. Leo whipped around and opened the Sphere, investigating for the problem. He imagined the problem to be something simple and full of naïveté, like a gear going loose. After about 15 minutes of sweat, investigating, and loud whirring, Leo couldn't find a single problem in the Sphere. Leo gave up and groaned in exasperation, then set his Sphere under his bed to try and silence the noise. And then he heard the grunt of someone pulling the lever to his room.
"Leo, you better not have any traps down there for me, it's an emergency!" Leo heard his friend, Jason's voice, call from the elevator to his room. "Something is happening in Camp that we'll need your help with."
"Another wild machine?" Leo joked, as he deactivated his mechanical snake alarm and sat on his bed, waiting for Jason to reach the room.
"No, no, nothing like that, this is serious," Jason had responded, as the elevator reached Leo's room. He walked into the room, and took a quick glance around. "I'm not sure how often I've been down here, if I have at all."
"Well then welcome to my lovely abode," said Leo. He gestured to the workshop with a small bed, which he had called his bedroom. "A few machines, but still very welcoming." Jason blew air out of his nose in a way of laughing, and then turned serious.
"Ok, Leo, I've told Frank, Piper, Percy, Annabeth, and Hazel already about what's happening. You're the last one I have to tell about what's happening," Jason began.
"If this is such a big deal, why not just get on with it already?" questioned an impatient Leo. Jason sighed silently under his breath.
"You know the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse? Famine, Pestilence, Death, and War? All four of them are coming to attack Camp Halfblood, and Chiron needs us to get together and protect the Camp." Jason explained.
"Do the other campers know?" Leo asked. "I mean, if the Four Minihorse Riders are coming to attack the Camp, then everyone would be scrambling to build defenses and get ready for a battle."
"Chiron is making an announcement tomorrow during lunch, so that everyone will know at the same time. He's only told us a day early because he needs us to be in the front lines. He needs us to defend the camp, and drive away the Horsemen. Chiron only told me earlier today because he wanted us to be able to know about the oncoming attack, and let it sink in during the night." Jason continued. "These aren't your ordinary immortals we're dealing with here. The Horsemen came before the Titans and Gods. Just older than Gaea and Ouranos. Nothing can kill them, they can only be driven back. They have their eyes set on Camp this millenium.
"If they can't be killed, how are we going to protect ourselves from them?" Leo asked. "I mean, if they're older than old Dirt Face, how are we going to hurt them, or even touch them?"
"That's the thing, Chiron doesn't know," Jason told Leo. "He needs us to figure it out, or else the Horsement will take over the Camp, and destroy Western Civilization as we know it. They've never attacked Camp Halfblood before, so even Chiron has no experience on how to protect ourselves. All we know is that they're old, ride horses, and can move as a form of aura at will."
"Will they attack all at once, or one at a time?" Leo questioned. Great, this sounds absolutely perfect. If they're older than Gaea, I'm not sure if there even is a way to defeat them. But we can't let a few rodeo horse riders come and take over Camp Halfblood!
"We don't know that either. No can or will know. Wherever the Horsemen have attacked, no one has known how to protect themselves, so each and every time they attack, everyone in that area goes somewhere even further than the Underworld. Further than even Tartarus, Chaos, and Nyx," Jason said with a heavy tone. A few beads formed on his forehead, and he shivered. "I can't imagine being somewhere where we aren't even in a form of being. Stuck there eternally, in pain, suffering..."
"Hey, Jason, we're not going to let a few Muleriders take over the Camp. We'll find a way," Leo stated. He stood up, got out a cinnamon candy, which he always kept in his pockets, and threw one to Jason. "Here, take one, and get some sleep. You seem a bit shaken." Yeah, shaken is an understatement.
"T-thanks, Leo," Jason thanked, and unwrapped the candy. He put it in his mouth, and went back in the elevator, ready to go back to the Zeus cabin to get some sleep. Leo let Jason's word mull over a bit in his mind, and then got out some paper, and started making plans for machines and mechanisms to protect the camp from the Horsemen. No way in Tartarus am I going to let his camp be taken down. I swear it on the River Styx.