Hey there! Welcome to my first story ^_^ It's a "reading the books" story, and I've seen a lot of these and figured, hey! I should try it out! So, I apologize if there are any mistakes, as this is my first time actually writing something. I thought it'd be a nice place to start out, as the story line is pretty much already spelled out for you. In any case, this is just the prologue, so leave me a review and tell me what you think!

Enjoy!

Reading the Lost Hero

Prologue: Getting the Books

-o-

It was a typical day at Camp Half-Blood. The sounds of metal clashing could be heard in the distance, soft reed music floated gently across the expansive strawberry fields, and laughter rang out as kids spent the day warm in the afternoon sun.

Annabeth Chase smiled as she relaxed under the shade of a large oak tree, her hand falling unconsciously onto her boyfriend's messy black hair. She'd set her architecture book down a while ago and had contented herself with listening to her boyfriend's snores and watching a couple of Apollo kids shoot some hoops.

Seaweed Brain. She let her lips quirk upwards into an amused smile as she regarded her boyfriend of 3 months. Percy had been nothing but the sweetest since their first underwater kiss. His usual boyish self always seemed to keep her buoyant, even in the darkest of times. She honestly didn't know what she'd do if she ever lost him. Search day and night, she supposed with an inward laugh.

Somehow, as if sensing her gaze, Percy's sea green eyes opened blearily, staring up at her own stormy gray eyes sleepily. He blinked a few times, before slowly sitting up out of her numb, crisscrossed legs.

"Hey Wise Girl, finish your book yet?" He asked, the drowsiness still reflected in his mumbled words.

Annabeth laughed lightly, "Not yet, Seaweed Brain. How could I read with you snoring so loud?" She teased him, laughing again when her boyfriend blushed slightly.

"Yeah… sorry about that. This whole invincibility always makes me so tired." Percy made a face. And it was true. After being dunked in the river Styx, he'd been little less than unkillable, but it had taken its toll as well. Often he found himself dozing off when his mind was unoccupied. He was glad Annabeth understood. Otherwise, any other girl would have dumped his ass as soon as he began to doze off in the middle of an architecture lecture or something.

Just as Annabeth was about to open her mouth to tease him again, Thalia, who was currently staying in the Artemis cabin with her hunters on a break from monster hunting, walked up to them.

"Alright you two lovebirds, you can flirt later. Dare's got something to show us." Thalia said upon arriving under the cool shade of the tree. Simultaneously, Annabeth and Percy blushed. Despite Thalia's constant, good-natured poking fun at them, she still managed to get them to turn into a bright shade of rouge every time.

Percy pushed himself off of the grass first, before offering a large hand down to his still sitting girlfriend. "Come on, we should probably see what Rachel's up to." After becoming the oracle, Annabeth had stopped seeing Rachel as a rival for Percy's feelings, and after a few hours spending time with each other, Annabeth realized how awesome of a person the red-head was. Now the two were as close as sisters, despite Rachel's 100% mortal heritage.

Annabeth gratefully took the pro-offered hand and upon standing up, brushed off the dirt from the back of her jeans. Together, the three demigods made their way to Rachel's cave. Upon reaching the cozy little abode, the saw Rachel standing outside in a little clearing, her face scrunched up in worry.

Annabeth and Percy shared a look. If something got their oracle stressed, then that was not good news. They quickened their pace, and when they reached the still nervous looking oracle, they noticed the thick book clenched between her hands.

"The Lost Hero," Annabeth read out loud, her own eyebrows scrunched together in confusion, "Rachel, what's going on?"

Rachel's eyes flickered nervously, "You guys aren't going to believe it. This morning, I met Hermes and he gave me this book. Said it was from Apollo. And inside the cover was this…"

Rachel handed the three demigods a crinkled note, as if it had been folded and refolded over and over again in anxiety. On it read:

Rachel,

Bad things are coming. I'm not supposed to tell you this directly, but you little demigods need all the help you can get with the upcoming danger. I'm not allowed to tell you exactly what's gonna happen, but I trust this book will be more than enough to fill you in.

Apollo.

P.S. Be glad I didn't write a Haiku.

Percy frowned, and Annabeth could have sworn she heard gears turning in that kelp filled brain of his. "Upcoming dangers? But we already defeated Kronos! What the heck is going to happen now?" His eyes were clouded with anxiety and frustration.

Annabeth shook her head slowly, still trying to wrap her mind around the concept. "Wait, hang on. So, Apollo's given us a book, one that's going to tell the future?!"

Even the level headed Thalia looked worried. "Kronos was defeated only a little while ago. There's no way that he'd be reformed by now! And if the gods are even willing to practically tell us what's going to happen, then this is really bad!"

"What's really bad?"

The demigods plus one mortal all jumped in fright as a cold, yet curious voice flowed to them right over their shoulders. Turning, they saw Nico di Angelo standing behind them, hands tucked into his pockets while tilting his head in confusion.

"Nico! Don't scare us like that!" Percy scolded, "Man, it's so creepy having you just shadow walk right behind us."

Nico shrugged, before reiterating his question, "So, what's so bad that's got you guys all riled up?"

Rachel bit her lip in worry before filling him in, "Apollo sent me a book that's supposedly going to tell us about something bad that's going to happen."

The son of Hades frowned, "But it goes against the gods' will to tell us demigods what's going to happen. The fact that they're willing to break that rule…" He trailed off, his sentence being completed in every person's mind.

"Well," Annabeth spoke up, uncertainly, "If the gods want us to read it to help prepare for what's going to happen, then I suppose the best thing to do is read it."

The other nodded in agreement, sat down together, and began to read.

Okay, so yeah. Just the prologue ^_^ But I tried! Please leave a review and leave me some advice! It'll make my day to know that my story is appreciated :) Also, I know I'm not the best at writing, so any constructive criticism is welcomed :)