So this is the story that was a possibility on my poll. Just the prologue for now, to see if anyone would be interested.

SPOILERS FOR THE BURNING MAZE AND THE REST OF TOA.

Basically, since every being born from any Primordial like Gaea, Ouranos and Tartarus seems to be a monster (Cyclopes, Hundred-Handed Ones, Giants, Furies from Ouranos' blood, Typhon, etc.) except from the Titans, I figured I could change that. The Titans in this were born as monsters (not that the gods or demigods know that) but when they started becoming too uncontrollable and aggressive, their father (Ouranos) sort of locked away their birth forms, forcing them into the shape of his latest interest - mankind. So each of the Titans, if every part of their 'human' body is sort of distracted, can be returned to their birth forms - forms which are almost completely uncontrollable and which despise mankind. Ouranos doing this to the Titans caused them to be furious with him, and so they killed him (the whole Kronos cutting him up thing like the myths).

Chapter 1 - Prologue

He blinks.

Groans.

As usual, there's nothing more than darkness to be seen, even his eyes unable to pierce the veil. A sudden rush of air passes over him, and he twists on the platform he's bound to. He opens his mouth to release a haunting cry, one which simply echoes off the walls back to him.

Another gust of air passes over him, this one far colder than the previous. Somewhere beyond his sense of smell, a door slams shut. He involuntarily shivers against the slab of Stygian Iron at his back. The freezing temperatures prevent him from moving much, drawing energy from his very being, enhanced by the draining abilities of Stygian Iron.

A whimper tears from his throat as there's once again no reply to his call.

He knows it's the celestial bronze that his wrists are bound by that's dampening his senses, preventing him from reaching beyond the confines of the miniscule cell.

A drop of water falls onto his bare chest, freezing cold and causing him to jerk slightly against the chains.

Another door opens, only this one creaks slightly and brings a rush of warm air, the smell of sulphur and copper that sticks in the back of his throat. He whines, turns his head to the side.

"Shh," a low voice croons to him, "I can hear you crying from the other end of the compound, little one." A hand tenderly presses against his bare side, brushing over a fierce scar. "Soon. I promise, soon I shall release you."

There's nothing but darkness as the Primordial towers over him. "Please," he whispers, voice hoarse from lack of use. "Please." The fingers abruptly tighten, digging into flesh and he cries out in pain, no longer able to silence his wails.

He writhes on the Iron slab, trying desperately to escape the pain. The movement tears at the scabs on his back, whip lashes that hadn't yet healed.

The Primordial above him, fingers still buried deeply into his side, continues to croon softly down at him. Chest heaving, he forces himself to still despite the pain, lying with his wrists bound and body shaking.

"Better," Tartarus whispers to him approvingly. "Much better." But his fingers remain where they are in his side, even digging slightly deeper, causing him to whimper. "But keep your cries to yourself," he adds, "lest I decide to remove your tongue as I did with your eyes. As beautiful as it is to hear you, little one, the others have no need to listen to your wails." The fingers twist sharply, drawing another soft – but muffled – cry. "Understood?"

"Yes," he gasps out.

Tartarus hums, removing his fingers from his side. He can feel golden ichor spilling over his skin and onto the slab, dripping steadily onto the floor below. "Good."

His mouth opens, but he struggles to force words out. The ichor spilling from his side and the freezing temperature are more than enough to keep his cold-blooded body from functioning effectively. His shivering gets the point across, however.

"Cold?" Tartarus questions. "Good. Unless you're on the brink of death, you can stay that way." Out of sheer desperation, he projects his pleads straight towards the Primordial's mind, pulling for one of the first times on the link that he held with the self-proclaimed Lord of Monsters. The Primordial chuckles faintly. "There we go," he murmurs, and an instant later the cell starts to warm slightly.

He lets out a short breath, letting his head fall back onto the Stygian Iron slab as he feels himself start to warm up slightly.

"Good," Tartarus repeats, his voice a mere whisper. "Soon," he muses, "you shall have all the water you desire." He leans down towards him. "When you're-"

Mine.

Percy gasps as he jerks upright, rolling to the side to avoid something only he can see, and tumbles onto the floor. Percy likes to consider himself a master of demigod dreams now, and that was definitely a demigod dream. He glances towards the window, through which the sun shines on his face, and groans as he works to untangle himself from the bed sheets.

He wasn't going to get back to sleep after that, not since it apparently featured Tartarus. Any mention of the Primordial made him utterly terrified.

The water fountain bubbles away angrily in the corner, reacting to Percy's rampant emotions. With a low groan, Percy slips into some running shorts and leaves his cabin.

The sun was just starting to rise over the horizon, painting the sea a myriad of different colours. It was a nice reminder to Percy that the whole Roman Emperors rising from the not-so-dead to cause chaos in the world of mythology was over.

Unfortunately, it also reminded him that even though Apollo had returned to Olympus, Jason was still dead.

Percy clenched his jaw as he ran.

It was what had caused him to leave College. Jason had died because Percy had refused to help, because he hadn't been there. Jason had died on a boat.

Percy dove into the sea.

If Percy hadn't thought about himself, if he'd agreed to help Apollo, then Jason would still be alive.

His friends had been out there, laying down their lives, and he had refused to help.

Percy forces the sea back from himself in one explosive movement, yelling angrily as he does so. He simply floats where he is, letting himself calm down as he waits for the sea to rocket back at him.

He steels himself against the force of the ocean when it does return, but he isn't expecting to hear a haunting cry on the waves with it. The sound makes the hair on the back of his next stand on end. Percy watches as a wary great white shark lazily approaches, rising from the bottom of the sea to meet him. The predator bumps the tip of its nose against Percy's chest, and Percy dutifully rubs the point.

Darkness seems to gather beneath him, the water around abruptly feeling fierce and untamed.

The great white twists away from Percy, swiftly retreating back out to sea, though it doesn't return to the seabed.

Percy swept his arms and shoots up to the surface, frowning deeply when he sees the thunder clouds overhead. The sun rose while he was venting his anger, and now hangs heavily in the sky above him.

The son of Poseidon turns and shoots back to Camp Half-Blood.

By the time he's showered and dressed in the standard orange camp shirt and some shorts, he's late for breakfast.

Eventually, about ten minutes after breakfast had started, Percy jogs into the pavilion. He sighs when he sees several gods standing beside Chiron and Dionysus. "Sorry," he swiftly apologises as he slips onto the bench at the Poseidon table. "I got distracted." As he says that, he glances back out to sea. Lightning flashes in the sky. A quick glance at Zeus has Percy even more confused, since the god of the sky seems to be just as worried as Percy by the storm out at sea.

"Nice of you to finally bless us with your presence," Athena remarks coldly.

"Athena," Poseidon murmurs, "he sensed something wrong with the sea. It is only natural."

"Wrong with the sea?" Percy echoes. "What's happened? Is Oceanus-"

"It's not Oceanus," Poseidon says firmly. "At least… not yet. And that," he nods to the storm, "is not me, and it is not Zeus."

"But… then who is it?"

Zeus clears his throat, shooting a sharp glare over at Poseidon, but the older brother merely raises an eyebrow. "Travel from either of the Camps is prohibited unless sanctioned by a member of the Olympic Council," the god announces.

Instantly, there are confused and angry shouts from the Campers. Chiron stamps a hoof. "SILENCE!" He roars, immediately quieting them all.

Zeus nods slightly to Chiron. "This is for your own safety," he informs them all. Then looks at Percy. "And, Perseus, I'm sure you sensed something different with the sea before you returned. You are not to enter the sea under any circumstances."

"But why?" Percy asks fiercely.

"There's a Prophecy," Apollo finally says. Percy glances at him, noting how there's a new quietness about him, evidently a new way he looks at mortals after his own adventures and losses as one of them. "A Great Prophecy, and things are already moving into place." He seems incredibly worried as he glances out at the storm. "There are things in motion that haven't been seen for millennia."

"Apollo," Zeus says flatly, a warning.

Apollo ignores his father.

"Known only to those of Primordial blood,
Regained in the Pit, the beasts shall flood.
Open the depths to creatures foretold,
Not to be mistaken, one must behold.
Only upon the haunting cry,
Shall one forget that he must die.
Remember days of a golden age,
Even before the sky set the cage,
To return to a once wild land,
Undermined by mortals' stand.
Rage of the beasts, none shall withstand,
Never before has one met a gentle hand.
Else the Twelve shall meet their end,
Down below the Titans ascend."

"Apollo!" Athena exclaims, turning to face him and looking rather exasperated.

The sun god scowls at her. "They deserve to know what could be out there at least."

"They don't need to know the Prophecy," Athena states quietly. "They simply need to know that they are not allowed to leave Camp."

Percy opens his mouth. "I had a dream last night," he blurts out. For anyone who's not a demigod, that would be normal, not something to be concerned about. Percy elaborates when he sees that he has the attention of the gods and goddesses. "I thought it was just a nightmare about Tartarus at first," he admits quietly. "There was no images to go with it, just voices. One voice – Tartarus'."

"What happened, Percy?" Poseidon questions, knowing how wary Percy is about anything to do with Tartarus after his fall into the Pit.

"I… it was a little confusing because I couldn't actually see what was happening," Percy says. "But Tartarus himself was there. I think he was torturing something. A Titan, I'm guessing, since they mostly sounded human."

"Titans ascend," Apollo says sharply, twisting to face Zeus. "I told you that they're not done."

Zeus ignores Apollo. "Anything else?"

Percy shakes his head. "No. That's it."

The god sighs. "We know nothing else, so you'll all remain here." Thunder cracks overhead, and Percy flinches slightly as rain lands on his head. Zeus grimaces as the rain falls. "That is final."

"Annabeth?" Percy asks. "What about those at Camp Jupiter?"

"They are prohibited from leaving too," Athena informs him. "Until this all blows over." With that, most of the gods leave, leaving unsettled campers in their wake.

Poseidon locks his gaze with Percy's. "Stay out of the sea, Percy. It's dangerous for you now."

Percy slowly nods. "Yeah. Okay."

Please drop a review to let me know your thoughts. I write for you guys, not for myself, so if none of you want me to continue then I'll just leave it here forever like this.

This will be a Percabeth story.

As for the Prophecy, I took some inspiration out of The Burning Maze for creating slightly different ones than normal. It's an acrostic as well as a classic Prophecy from the series xD.