AN: I don't own PJO. This is a F story (this account is shared between F and A, so I always clarify).
Esperanza Valdez sat on top of the forges at Camp Jupiter. She was laying on her stomach, scribbling words into her notebook. It was hard to write, because she was dyslexic, but she loved writing songs. She and her friends were starting a band, and she was the lead singer.
"Zane!" Someone familiar shouted from the ground. Esperanza grinned and leaned over the side. Her best friend, Raiden Grace, the legacy of Aphrodite and Jupiter, was staring up at her. "You coming or what?"
"Where are we going?" Esperanza asked, pulling back from the edge of the roof. She stuffed her notebook into her black messenger bag and returned to the edge of the roof. "Give me a lift, Grace?"
Raiden nodded and held up his hands. Esperanza felt the wind almost thicken around her, growing stronger and lifting her up and over the side. She was dropped when she was still a foot above the ground, and stumbled a little.
"Hey!"
"Sorry, Zane," Raiden said, turning a little pink. "Need to work on my landings."
"I'd appreciate it." They walked towards the senate, where they were supposed to be meeting with a bunch of other people. They hadn't actually been told why this was happening, but Reyna made it sound important. Besides, it was summer. They didn't have much else to do.
Raiden and Esperanza had been best friends since they were toddlers. They had a simple system; Esperanza thought of stupid things to do, and once they'd done them Raiden got them out of trouble again. The system worked, and they both loved it. They were known through the camp for some of the things they had done, along with the rest of their group of friends.
Their friends were waiting for them outside the senate. People in fancy clothes and togas walked past them inside, and Esperanza found herself growing nervous. She didn't know if they were here for doing something wrong or for a surprise party, but she didn't like not knowing.
"Wondered if you two were coming." Jamie called. Jamie di Angelo-Solace was the adopted daughter of Will and Nico di Angelo-Solace, or as Esperanza's papa called them, Solangelo. She was a clear sighted mortal, but everyone treated her like a legacy. Jamie didn't look like her adopted father's, even though she and Will were both blond. Her long straight blond hair was tied in a braid over her shoulder, and she had brown eyes. She wore a black hoodie unzipped to show a red t-shirt with I see dead people in black, dark torn jeans, and black-and-white converse. She wore her dad's silver skull ring on a chain around her neck, like her good luck charm. "Just when I was getting my hopes up that you weren't."
"Not rid of us that easily," Esperanza called back, grinning.
"Be nice, you two." Teddy said with a smile. Teddy Zhang was twelve, a year younger then Esperanza, and Jamie, but the same age as the Jackson twins and two years younger then Raiden. He had dark eyes and curly hair that always got in his eyes, was pretty short, and wore a blue hoodie and had his bow slung over his shoulder. The most unusual thing about him was his eyes-they were golden.
"Yeah, if you two kill each other before we even find out what Reyna wants to kill us for, we'd have to come back to life and get killed again." Raiden observed.
"Let them josh if they want!" Cassie Jackson protested. "I should get popcorn for this."
Cassie and Charles Jackson were twins, and identical in most everything. They both had black hair and grey-green eyes, both had kind faces and the same expressions. They usually dressed the same, as well, and today was no exception: green plaid shirts unbuttoned to show their white t-shirts, jeans, and flip-flops. The only difference was that Cassie's t-shirt read beach bum, her hair was longer and in two braids, and that Charles never talked. Cassie understood what he meant, though, and translated for the rest of them.
The six of them walked into the senate house, where the full senate was assembled. Their parents were sitting in the front row, looking either worried or confused. They didn't know what was going on either. Reyna and Frank stood in front of everybody, and Hazel stood a little to one side.
When Hazel spotted them, she motioned for them to come onto the stage with her, Frank, and Reyna. After a nervous glance at her friends, Esperanza lead the way up. She wished everybody wasn't staring at them.
"Romans! Greeks! Campers!" Reyna shouted, and everybody silenced. "Thank you for coming." Reyna was still the praetor of Camp Jupiter after twenty years, and Frank was as well. Reyna's girlfriend, Thalia Grace, was a hunter but stopped by whenever she could. Which sort of made Reyna like Raiden's aunt, in a way, which everybody found kind of weird. But she was definitely part of the family, so it was a good kind of weird.
"We have received word from the gods that a new threat is stirring, and threatening our camps." Reyna announced, and everyone in the stands shifted nervously. The legacies on the stage hadn't been around for the Giant war, but they had heard stories. Nobody wanted a repeat. "Except this time, it is happening years ago. Some force is tampering with our past, altering our timeline. The gods say that the only way to fight this is to send some of our own back through time to make sure that the tampering doesn't change how history goes. Someone has to go back to the Giant war and aid the seven, to make sure that nothing changes."
This announcement was met with protests and mutterings. Some campers actually got up and booed. "Wait." Esperanza said suddenly. She suddenly realized why her and her friends were on the stage….
"The gods say that the children of the greatest heroes of our generation must be the ones to time-travel!" Reyna shouted. "They say the legacies with us on the stage must go back to fix the timestream!"
People were shouting and arguing, trying to convince Reyna otherwise. But Frank and Hazel flanked her, and there was no changing their minds. Esperanza's papa, Leo Valdez, stood up in the first row, glaring at Reyna. Which was bad, because Leo and Reyna were friends. Her mom, Calypso, looked like she'd been slapped, as did most of the parents of her friends.
"We can't change this now!" Reyna shouted. "It's too late!"
A swirling vortex appeared in the air between the crowd and the legacies. Hazel turned to them, looking apologetic, and pointed to the vortex. "You all brought your weapons, right?" They nodded. "It's time to go. Don't worry, you'll do well!" She quickly hugged Teddy and Jamie, her son and niece. "Good luck! Watch each other's backs!"
Frank managed to shout to them over the roar of the crowd. "And when you get there, don't tell us you're our kids! It would alter the timeline even more!"
Esperanza nodded, her mind made up. They had to do this. She had heard stories about quests and adventure and danger all her life, and this time the danger was hers. She had her sword and her notebook in her messenger bag (which worked like her papa's toolbelt, and had been a gift from Hephaestus two years ago), which meant she had everything important. And with her friends by her side, nothing would go wrong. They could do this.
"Ready, guys?" Raiden shouted, reading her thoughts. He stepped forward and glanced back at them, only a foot from the vortex. "I'll go first! Follow me!" They nodded, but Esperanza ran forward and grabbed his arm.
"We should all go together!" She said, and the rest of their friends lined up at their side. Then, together, they leapt into the vortex and were gone.
Esperanza felt like she was being stretched, like she was rubber. But she also felt like she was on one of those rides at a theme park that spins you around until you throw up-nauseous and dizzy. Everything around her was white-no, black. No, multicolor. She wasn't sure what she was seeing, but she didn't understand it.
Then her vision cleared, the dizziness faded, and she settled back into her shoes.
She fell through the vortex again, and landed on her feet on the deck of a large wooden ship.
"I think I might puke." Esperanza said, pressing a hand to her stomach. "That sucked."
"Where are we?" Cassie asked, staring at the large bronze dragon figurehead on the ship. "Where is everybody? What ship is this?"
"Our ship!" Someone behind them shouted. They all turned, to see the seven people they least wanted to see. But had kind of known to expect anyway. Actually, it was only five. Two of them were missing, the blond son of Jupiter and the daughter of Aphrodite. Raiden must be relieved. But the rest of them all had their weapons raised and pointed at them.
Esperanza wasn't fazed, though her friends were. She strolled forward easily, hands raised in surrender. "Woah, chill. We come in peace." Her eyes flicked over the seven older demigods, landing on the scrawny latino holding a box of breath mints. For the first time, she wished she didn't talk and act so much like him when she was nervous. She had the same eyes and hair, the same face in most ways. He was staring right back at her. She was even wearing an army jacket, which she now regretted.
"Who are you guys? Are you demigods? How did you get onto our ship?" A blond girl with gray eyes demanded. It must be Annabeth Jackson-no, Chase. Her maiden name was Chase.
"Um, dunno?" Esperanza said, raising her eyebrows and trying very very hard not to be intimidated. "Just are."
"Did somebody send you?" A bulky Asian boy with a bow and arrow asked. Must be younger Frank.
"The gods did." Raiden said, appearing at Esperanza's side. She was grateful for the save, since she had been about to start rambling about how she fought a bunch of ninjas who brought her here. "They said we're supposed to help you on your quest. There's something we're supposed to do."
"Yeah. Also, if you would mind not pointing weapons at us, we would appreciate it." Jamie said. Her hand was on her sword, which wasn't good. Jamie was a great swordsman. "We are here to help."
The older demigods slowly lowered their weapons.
"Sorry 'bout that." Leo said, shoving his breath mints in his toolbelts. "But how come you look like me?" He was still staring at Esperanza. "You even have the same jacket."
"Yeah, I guess I do." Esperanza said, avoiding the question. "Weird."
"What are your names?" Annabeth asked, still looking suspicious. "And godly parents?"
"We don't know our godly parents." Teddy invented. Esperanza was surprised at how well her friends lied. "We haven't been claimed."
"How old are you?" The boy that must be a younger Percy Jackson questioned. "You look old enough to have been claimed."
"I'm fourteen, these two are thirteen, and the rest are twelve." Raiden said, motioning to people in turn. "We're supposed to be claimed at thirteen, right?"
"That was the promise the gods made." Percy said, actually sounding a little angry. "You should've been claimed by now."
"But that doesn't answer the other question," Annabeth said. "What are your names?"
The legacies glanced at each other. They wouldn't give their last names-that would give away too much. A bunch of familiar-looking demigods with the same last names? Annabeth at least would figure it out, and the others probably would as well. But her first name, Esperanza, would also be problematic. She was named after her dead grandmother, and Leo would get suspicious. She would have to by another name, and her friends could go by their first names only.
"I'm Zane." Esperanza said. Zane was her nickname already, so it wouldn't be hard to remember.
"I'm Raiden." Raiden said.
"Jamie."
"I'm Cassie, this is Charles. He doesn't talk." Cassie introduced herself and her twin, and Charles waved at the older demigods.
"I'm Teddy." Teddy finished. "Who are all of you?" Teddy was clever. They weren't supposed to know the names of the demigods. Esperanza had almost forgotten.
The five demigods introduced themselves.
"Isn't there supposed to be seven of you?" Raiden asked curiously. His parents weren't among the group of demigods, and he was kind of curious as to where they were.
"They're downstairs." Hazel said. "Jason was injured at New Rome."
"Oh, yeah, that reminds me." Percy said, turning to Leo. "We were just talking about that." Leo lost his smile, looking instead kind of miserable and guilty. "You blew up New Rome!"
"Wait, wait." Esperanza said, stepping between the two older boys. "Pause this thing for a sec, Old Man Of The Sea or whatever the heck I'm supposed to call a son of Poseidon. Kelp brain? Whatever, doesn't matter. Why would Leo blow up New Rome? That makes zero sense. Plus, New Rome wasn't blown up last time I checked."
"I didn't mean to." Leo protested, but he also looked a little surprised that Esperanza was defending him. "Like I was watching myself do it, but I wasn't in control."
"How convenient." Percy snapped. Annabeth grabbed his arm, calming him down.
"Frank, watch Leo. We're going to start repairs on the ship, and we might need a mechanics help with-"
"I can do that!" Esperanza volunteered. When everyone looked at her, she went pink. "I mean, I am a mechanic. And a brilliant one, if I say so myself."
"Okay, you're with us. Do any of the rest of you know anything about repairs?" Annabeth said, scanning the other "demigods".
"I can help." Raiden offered. After being Esperanza's best friend for so many years, he knew his way around machines. He wasn't particularly good, but he wasn't clueless either.
"The rest of you, feel free to look around the ship." Annabeth commanded. "But don't touch anything important." She turned and strode away with Esperanza and Raiden.
"Thank you for that vote of confidence, scary girl." Teddy mumbled.
"She's definitely a fan." Cassie said , staring after her mom. Charles didn't seem bothered, but Cassie was closer to their mom then he was in their time.
"Don't worry, she'll get used to you." Leo assured them. He cracked a forced grin. "She's still getting used to me. And, um, I was wondering-" He suddenly looked uncomfortable. "What's Zane's last name? Out of curiosity?"
Jamie quickly answered, "Sanchez." All of the legacies were good liars except Esperanza and Cassie. Jamie was especially, since she had lived in foster homes until she was eight and Nico and Will adopted her.
"Oh." Leo said, shaking his head a little as if dismissing an idea. "Right."
"It is odd how similar you two look." Frank nodded. Leo and Frank were the only ones of the older demigods that had decided to stay on deck. The others were all gone, off doing things or checking on Jason and Piper.
"And the army jacket thing." Leo nodded. "How likely is it that we not only have the same accent and appearance, but we both wear the army jacket? What is she, my long-lost twin sister?"
"Better hope not." Jamie said, rolling her eyes. "Zane can't go three days without lighting something on fire or blowing something up. I think it's actually physically dangerous to get within a foot of her."
"Be nice, Jamie." Cassie scolded.
"She might light stuff on fire, but usually it's accidentally." Teddy said.
Frank and Leo exchanged a confused look.
"Forget about that." Cassie said, brushing their suspicions away with one hand. "Can we have a tour of the ship? What's that figurehead?" She pointed towards Festus. The legacies all breathed a sigh of relief as Leo started chattering away about the ship. They had avoided telling them anything… for now.
AN: Please leave a review or favorite/follow! Also, I have a bunch of other stories I should work on to try and finish, so I'M NOT UPDATING UNTIL I HAVE TEN REVIEWS, because I already have a lot of stories to work on so I might not keep writing this one.
