So here is the long anticipated beginning of my follow-up for Heart of a Hero. I think that this story is going to end up being more of a collection of one-shots, and it might not be as long as my other stories, but I do want to write it. It took me a while to decide whether I should or not, since my story clashes A LOT with the official Rick Riordan version. (Use that sentence as a disclaimer. I'm obviously not RR.) I think that I'm gonna go ahead and write this for the fun, and maybe someday write a MARK OF ATHENA fic.
Without further ado, here's the prologue of Heroes of Olympus: Fight to the Finish.
The six half-bloods sat around the dining room table of Percy's apartment. Sally and Paul were currently at the doctor's office because Sally had recently discovered she was pregnant. It had only been about a week since Percy's eighteenth birthday party, and during that week, the six of them had all been plagued with the same reoccurring dream.
Annabeth had just been in the middle of describing her dream when there was a knock on the door. Percy got up, wearing a confused expression on his face. The others heard him open the door and exclaim "Reyna!"
Halley jumped up out of her seat and ran hugged her friend. After Reyna had accepted immortality a little over a year ago, the others had rarely seen her. She had been busy traveling with the Hunters and fulfilling her duties as the new goddess of visions and prophecy (a title given to her by her father, Apollo). It had been months since any of them had last seen Reyna, but her showing up at that moment didn't really make any of them feel good. Since Reyna was the goddess of visions, she would know about their dreams, and the majority of the group figured that was why she was there.
When they got resettled at the table, Reyna spoke up.
"So you guys have been having weird dreams lately, right?" she asked.
The others nodded.
"We've all been having the same dream," Annabeth stated.
"It's the same thing," Piper added, "Over, and over, and over again."
Reyna frowned. "What do you guys see?" she asked. She was still getting used to her goddess powers, so she wasn't able to tell what some visions were about, just that they happened.
"Mount Olympus," Leo said. The other six shuddered at the name of the mountain. They hadn't had very good experiences there. "It looked the same as it did last year, but suddenly there's this earthquake, and the mountain splits in two… directly down the middle, exact halves."
"What happens then?" Reyna asked.
"After the mountain splits," Jason continued, "Two images appear in the clouds beside it…"
"The symbols of the two demigod camps," Halley said, "the eagle and the Omega. One on each side of the mountain.
"Then a voice starts speaking, saying that it won't be long before the Greeks and Romans destroy each other," Piper said.
"This is bad," Reyna murmured.
"It gets worse," Percy said. "The voice then says 'You only postponed my rise, heroes. I will rise soon. But until I do, I plan on making your lives very interesting'."
Reyna's eyes widened. She looked around at the rest of the group. These guys have been through too much already, she thought. She looked back at Percy.
"That voice has to be Gaea," Reyna said. "But what could she mean by 'very interesting'?"
"She explained that in later dreams," Annabeth said. "Or at least, that's how it was with me. The dream started out with just the mountain splitting and the Greek and Roman camp symbols in the sky. The next time I had it was when I actually heard Gaea's voice, saying what Percy and Piper described. The night before last, when I had this dream, she… she taunted me, saying that she was going to get to find me and that once she did…" Annabeth didn't finish her statement.
"Why on ear… why in Pluto's name would she want that?" Reyna asked. "You guys are supposed to be retired right? What threat are you to her?"
The other six laughed, though it wasn't very cheerful laughter.
"We can't retire from what we are, Rey," Halley stated. "Sure, we can leave camp, go out and live in the real world, but we're never going to be able to actually 'retire' from being demigods. You know that."
"And besides, most of us aren't even eighteen yet," Leo pointed out. "We still attract monsters."
"And we're going to for at least a few more years," Jason added.
"As for what threat we are," Annabeth said, "There's no telling. Like she said, we stopped her from rising once, so maybe she's scared we'll stop her again."
Reyna seemed to consider this. After a few minutes, she cautiously said "So Gaea is going to hunt you guys down to prevent you from possibly preventing her from rising."
The others nodded solemnly.
"As best as we can figure," Piper said.
"So what are you going to do?" Reyna asked.
The other six all looked at each other. Piper and Leo still lived at Camp Half-Blood, which would make them easy to find, but possibly hard to get to. Jason and Halley both lived mostly at the Roman camp, but they did fly over (in an airplane, not on their own, though they possibly could've done that if they had to) every few months to visit. Annabeth went to school in New York so she could be close to camp, Olympus, and Percy. When Jason and Halley came while she was on a break from school, she would sometimes fly back with them to San Francisco to see her family. They had gotten together to decide just what they did need to do.
"We need to keep a sharp eye out," Annabeth said. "Make sure we're always on guard and ready."
"That's just the start of what you need to do," Reyna said. "I didn't want to tell you guys, but I talked with both Rachel and Alley before I came here, and both of them are worried about you guys. Rachel said that some of her recent paintings… she actually thinks it might be best for you guys to split up and keep your heads low."
"What do you mean by that?" Piper asked. "'Keep our heads low?"
"Avoid anything that'll get you noticed in the mythological world," Reyna explained. "Rachel even said that it might be smart if you avoid it as much as you can."
"You mean to go underground?" Jason said.
Reyna nodded, but Leo was a little confused. "Why would we go underground if Gaea is trying to find us?" he asked.
Halley head slapped him. "We're not literally going underground, Hot Head," she explained. "'Go underground' is an expression used to describe going into hiding… or making yourself scarce."
"Oh," Leo responded. "Right. I, uh, forgot that."
Halley rolled her eyes and turned back to the others.
"Do you think it'll work?" Annabeth asked Reyna.
Reyna nodded. "I think if you guys try and stay apart as much as possible and avoid major fighting and stuff you should be okay."
Piper bit her lip. "I'm guessing that puts staying at camp out of the question, doesn't it. If we're supposed to avoid that world, then it wouldn't be a safe place to be."
"Then where are we supposed to stay?" Leo asked. "I mean… where are me and Jason supposed to stay? Unlike you guys, we don't have mortal parents to go back too."
"You could come back to Houston with me, Leo," Halley said. "My mom loves having you around."
Reyna shook her head. "It probably wouldn't be smart for both of you to live in the same house. It would make you easier to track." She frowned, thinking of other options they had. Her eyes lit up when she got an idea. Looking at Halley, she said "Someone could possibly go live with Michelle and her husband."
Halley's eyes widened. "Michelle lives in Memphis though... and I'm not an Elvis fan. And besides, I haven't seen her in forever."
"It would probably be better if you went to stay with her though," Reyna pointed out. "You know who she is."
"So does Jason," Halley argued.
"Um, sorry to interrupt," Percy said, "But the rest of us don't know who Michelle is."
"Michelle is Alley's full sister. She's an extremely gifted musician," Reyna quickly explained. She turned to Halley. "And she doesn't live in Memphis, Hals. She lives a few hours out of Nashville."
"She lives closer to Memphis than Nashville," Halley muttered.
Reyna sighed. "I have to get going," she said as she stood up. "My dad doesn't know I came here. And I don't think he would be happy to find out I snuck out."
"Why's that Reyna?" Annabeth asked.
"The gods are getting restless," Reyna explained. "Some of us are worried Jupiter might close Olympus again."
"Yeah, because that worked so well last time," Jason mumbled.
As Reyna walked towards the door, she turned back towards the others. "Promise me you guys will be careful. We can't…" her eyes widened as she stopped talking. "Uh… bye!" She sprinted out the door before anyone could ask questions.
"Well that was weird," Leo muttered.
"Yeah," Halley agreed, frowning. "I wonder what she was about to say?"
Percy shrugged. "Who knows; maybe she had some important goddess thing to do."
"We still need to figure out what we're going to do," Annabeth said. "As much as I hate to say it, our best option probably is to split apart and hide out."
"But where would everyone go?" Leo asked. "Well, actually, where would me and Jason go?"
Jason opened his mouth to say something, but Halley interrupted him.
"Well, there's Michelle's house, but Jason can't stay there. Michelle's husband hates him." She said this with a smirk, like she was remembering why Michelle's husband hated Jason.
"Why does he hate you?" Piper asked Jason.
Jason gave a small chuckle. "He's a son of Mars, and was praetor of the First Legion before I was. He got really mad when people at camp started paying more attention to me and not him. And he hated the fact that I became praetor when he left camp. I think he had been hoping that one of his siblings would receive the title."
"So he's still mad at you about that?" Leo asked with a laugh.
Jason nodded. "Yep, so it wouldn't be smart for me to stay there."
"I'll stay there," Halley said, pulling out her cell phone. She actually less problems with technology than most demigods, considering who her dad was. Even still, she stood up and backed away from the table, so her phone wouldn't pick up the other five. "Leo can stay with my mom. As for Jason, I don't know where we can stick him. Maybe Reyna's grandparents' house?"
Jason's eyes widened. "You're joking right?" he asked Halley. "They don't even know about us or the whole gods deal. They think Reyna's been living with her dad's family all these years."
"Okay then," Halley murmured, scrolling through the contacts in her phone (which really wasn't that many people). "Uh… how about…"
"What about Dakota's mom?" Jason interrupted.
Halley glanced up at him. "I could get Dakota to ask her. I doubt she'd mind." She punched a number into her phone and walked into another room. The others could hear her talking to someone.
"Where does Dakota's mom live?" Piper asked.
Jason thought for a second before answering. "Missouri, I think. She lives close enough to the Oklahoma line she could almost live there, but I am pretty sure it's Missouri."
"My dad grew up in Oklahoma," Piper said. "We still go to visit my Grandpa Tom's cabin there from time to time. But I haven't been there in forever."
Halley walked back into the room. "Okay, so Jason's staying with Ms. Harmon. I called my mom and she's totally cool with Leo coming to stay there, and Michelle said she'd have my room ready. As for the rest of you guys…"
"I'll get up with my dad," Piper said. "He called me during the summer anyway saying that if I was interested, I could travel to Europe with him in the fall. He's shooting a movie or something, and he thought it'd be cool if I went with him… since I've never been to Europe." She smirked at the last comment.
"You still haven't told him?" Annabeth asked.
Piper shook her head. "I just haven't found the right time to tell him."
"Where in Europe will you be?" Percy asked.
Piper grinned. "Rome," she replied. "Dad said that he's staring in a movie about a Roman senator or something another… I'm not sure what he said it was."
Halley stared at her. "You're going to Rome? I've always wanted to go there!"
"We know, Halley," Jason responded. He had grown up listening to how much Halley wanted to travel the world… starting with Rome.
"Just be careful when you're there, Piper," Halley said, ignoring Jason. "Some Romans are a little touchy about demigods, and they know more about us than you'd think. I suggest you stay as far away from Vatican City as possible"
"Don't worry," Piper said. "I wasn't planning on going there."
"Alright," Annabeth said. "So that takes care of you guys…" She glanced at Percy. "I guess you'll be staying here?"
Percy nodded. "Unless if it starts looking too dangerous. If it does I'll find another place to go. Are you going to live with your dad?"
Annabeth considered this. With a sigh, she said "I guess so. I'd hate to switch schools right before my senior year, but it's not like I've never done that before." She stood up and walked into another room with her phone.
"Do you mind if I use your phone?" Piper asked Percy.
"Sure, there's one in the hall," Percy said, pointing towards the hallway.
Piper jumped up and ran to make the call.
While they were gone, the other four sat around the table and waited, since they didn't have Annabeth to help them make a plan. Halley started digging through her bag, looking for something, exclaiming every few minutes that she didn't remember putting certain items in there. Leo pulled random items out of his tool belt, passing breath mints out to the other three.
Eventually Piper and Annabeth came back into the room. As they sat down, Leo threw in a question.
"Okay, so now that we know where we're all going," he said, "How long are we going to stay apart?"
"Did the dream say anything about when…?" Halley started to ask, but Jason interrupted her.
"Until the Gaea problem is solved, we should probably stay separate," he said grimly, looking at Piper.
"We don't know when that will be," Percy pointed out.
"Yeah, who knows how long we'll have to be apart," Piper added.
"We don't have any other choice," Annabeth said. "If we stay together, everyone we know could be in danger. It's best for everyone if we stay apart."
The others thought about this. Annabeth had a point. Gaea would no doubt go through anything to get to them, which would put the others in trouble.
"How about this," Jason said, sitting up in his chair. "We separate for a few months, avoiding contact with each other unless if there's an emergency. Then we'll meet back up at the end of the months."
Please don't expect quick updates. I'm very busy with school and my other story THE MOST WANTED. But I will update!
Review!