Author's Note: This is my first fan-fiction story that I am posting on the web. If you are not familiar with the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, I do not suggest you read this file. This is the first chapter which will hopefully be followed by more. I do encourage and appreciate feedback. Thank you, and I hope you enjoy!

Chapter One -Peyton-

I stood at the edge of an immense jungle, not daring to take another step. Giant trees loomed at its edge, effectively sealing the depths of the jungle from curious eyes. The forest eventually rolled into majestic mountains, which dominated the horizon. A deep mist hung in the air, its tendrils swirling around my arms and legs. The very ground around my feet was humming, as if the very earth itself had a heartbeat. It was her presence; her power.

I closed my eyes and tried to imagine what the horizon would've looked like a couple of years back…I could picture large skyscrapers reaching into the dank city air. Horns were blaring, people were talking, feet were shuffling; it was the hum of a giant metropolis. This was when New York was a city, not a jungle.

I opened my eyes. The eerie quiet and the timeless forest returned. In the distance you could still make out the remains of what might have been buildings. Now they had been completely devoured by the jungle. "I will purge the Earth of its impurities and begin the world anew", the voice had promised. "A new age will begin and your kind will be no more".

I shuddered, recounting a dream that had spooked me a few days ago. It was one of those dreams that had felt real, and for all I know, it could have been. Demigods' dreams are never just dreams. They are always omens, prophecies, glimpses into the future, or take you on a magic carpet ride to show you things that could be happening clear across the globe.

"Hey, Peyton", a voice piped from behind. "Your shift's over. It's my turn!" I turned to see Jack awkwardly jogging towards me decked out in full armor. His armor clanked around like it was three sizes too big; the poor kid looked like he was an undersized football player ready to be toppled. Jack was one of those people that always seemed to be in a good mood and couldn't sit still, even if his shift started at two in the morning. His sword gleamed in the dim moonlight, looking freshly polished and sharpened.

"Hey, bud. Is it two already?"

"Yeah, and it's my turn!" He responded with a wide grin.

I couldn't help but smile. Jack's enthusiasm never seemed to crack. Where he found the urge to always find something to smile about, I'll never know. Jack and I were pretty much brothers. I've always felt a natural instinct to protect him, to look after him. "Cool", I responded with a dry smile. "Take it easy, ok?" I shoved his helmet playfully, but it took the poor guy off guard and he hobbled back a few feet, his sword falling off and clattering to the ground in the process.

"Ok! And, uh, you too!"

One of the only buildings still standing loomed in front of me: The Empire State Building. The surrounding forest made it look completely out of place, and the building itself looked as it had seen better days. Half of the windows were shattered, there were gaping holes on some floors, and the building was even scorched from Greek fire in some places. For the past couple of months it had served as our base of operations; not like there was much of a choice. The Empire State Building was once the entrance to Mount Olympus, the home of the gods; at least that's what I was told. I never got the chance to see it for myself before it was destroyed.

The lobby served as a temporary medical clinic for the wounded. Make-shift beds were sprawled across the floor. Apollo kids ran this way and that, tending to as many as they could, splinting broken bones and reciting ancient hymns to heal the injured. It was a pretty depressing scene overall. I even passed a couple of kids wrapped head-to-toe in gauze. I didn't know who they were and I didn't want to find out.

I found the nearest unoccupied couch and crashed. Sleep came easily despite the things I've gone through. I was out in record time.

I was floating somewhere high above the forest. The mist was especially thick here, shielding the forest floor in a blanket of fog. High mountains rose in the distance, with several beautiful waterfalls cascading down the mountain faces. Even in the dream, I could feel her power radiating. It's ironic how someone with such evil intentions could be the mastermind of something so beautiful. I drifted closer towards the mountains, already dreading what this dream was showing me. I had a bad feeling about this. My dream drove me straight through the highest peak of the mountain range. I was in complete and utter darkness.

It felt like my ribs were being torn apart piece by piece as I descended through the mountain. It was complete agony. I had never felt pain like this before, and it was only a dream. To make matters worse, I felt like my body was falling through syrup. I was on a slow one way ride to pain. As I sank further into the depths of the peak, I felt like the mountain was crushing the air right out of my lungs. I can't describe the pain I was enduring. It was as if I was really there, forced to experience the feeling of the Earth crushing my chest firsthand.

If you continue this hopeless battle, you will experience a pain far greater than this, a voice called out from the dark depths. The voice was soft, but at the same time it was deafening, if that makes any sense. The feminine voice was heavy with power; just that simple sentence almost turned my mind into mush. My son will rise once more and complete the job he started. The human race, demigods and pathetic mortals alike will be annihilated. Give up this pointless rebellion and your lives may be spared. Otherwise, you will be utterly crushed. The invisible force constricted my ribs, causing me to cry out. My lungs felt like they were filling with molten lead. I couldn't respond, but I nodded weakly in the darkness. The pain receded, and I slipped away, drifting off into the unknown.

-Jack-

Everything always has to happen to me. If Peyton had just stayed outside a minute longer, I wouldn't have been involved, but there I was, as usual, standing in awkwardly in my oversized armor. The mist began to swirl madly, churning and swirling in the windless morning air. More and more of the stuff began piling up, effectively closing me in.

I turned around. "Peyton? Hello?" It was already too late. He was gone and so was everything else. A wall of fog surrounded me in all directions. I doubted I could even make my way back to the Empire State Building without getting lost, even if it was only yards away. I wouldn't want to risk accidentally wondering into the forest, so I decided to stay put.

A raspy hiss cut through the fog. The mist began to slowly coil around me, like a patient snake waiting to capture its prey. The wall of fog began to change into a sour green color. I started to gag, not knowing if it was even safe to breathe. For all I knew, this could be a trap sprung by Gaea herself. There was a chilling presence hanging around in the air that sent shivers down my spine. I drew my sword, hoping the feeling of the blade in my hand would give me some kind of courage.

A bright green light shone through the fog. Was someone else here? Was this the trap? I shakily held out my blade, gripping the handle so hard I'm sure my knuckles were white. "Approach, seeker, and ask", a chilling voice hissed. It seemed to come from the direction of the light. I cautiously drew closer, my fear urging me to stop. As I drew closer, I could make an outline of someone standing a couple feet away.

I held out my sword and weakly whimpered, "Who's there?" The emerald fog abruptly parted revealing a girl. Long red hair curled around both of her shoulders. Fresh dirt coated her pale white skin and her clothes were in tatters, so it was safe to say she hadn't exactly been living in a life of luxury. Two bright beams of green shone from her eye sockets like headlights.

"Approach, seeker, and ask", she rasped. If snakes could talk, I imagined they would probably sound something like her voice.

"Ask what? What do you want me to ask?"

The girl doubled over as if someone punched her in the stomach, and then collapsed on the ground. The freaky lights shining from her eyes died down, and the unnatural fog began to part as quickly as it had come, leaving me alone with the girl.

-Peyton-

I sat upright and alert, gulping in air as fast as my body would allow. The pain was gone. No broken ribs or damaged lungs. Not even a single scratch. Gaea had given me a message to deliver. She demanded total surrender in exchange for an opportunity to live. We had been fighting the forces of Gaea successfully for several months now. If she was capable of crushing us, why not do it as soon as possible? Maybe her power wasn't near as great as it is now. She had been slumbering for eons and now has come close to awakening from her slumber. We've been doing all that's in our power to make sure that doesn't happen. The most ancient goddess of all is merciless and pure evil. Her rise would mean game over. Period.

"Nightmare, huh? Well then again, not really a nightmare, but you'll come to see it eventually."

I turned to see a dude sitting on the arm of my couch. He wasn't too much older than me, maybe nineteen or twenty, with hair that shined like the sun itself. He wore expensive looking Ray-Bands and grinned at me while strumming a flaming lyre, as if this were all normal. I squinted as if he weren't really there. "Apollo? What are you doing here?"

The sun god shrugged indifferently. "Same as you I guess. I came here to sleep, to perhaps see a glimpse of the future."

A lump formed in my stomach. "Did you see anything?"

He frowned and set down his lyre, which sputtered into smoky wisps. "I don't know. It was clouded from me. It was probably Gaea's doing."

He then concentrated and then flaming lyre reappeared in his hands. He strummed a few cords, and then frowned again, resuming his tuning. "Gaea's doing?"

"Yes. She has completely sealed off the future. She has already taken my beloved Oracle, and now she's even clouding dreams. She's a tricky one, that Gaea." He talked about Gaea as if they were old pals playing pranks on one another, which irritated me.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but you shouldn't be here. You should be with the other Olympians on the second floor–"

Apollo struck a sour note that reverberated in the air annoyingly. "Come on now, Peyton. You should know by now that gods can exist in many different places at once. We can't be confined in a single area–" Apollo's formed flickered like a hologram and in his place sat an entirely different looking form. This form was sterner looking. He wore golden robes that shimmered like the sun. A laurel crown rested on his neat golden hair; he even looked older. "–but technically I'm still on the second floor. But never mind that. I came here to speak to you about your dreams," he continued, as if nothing had happened. My blood froze. I looked around, making sure that no nearby injured demigods were eavesdropping. "Don't worry about them. As far as they're concerned, you're still sleeping. A conversation like this needs to be kept private."

I glanced around. Sure enough, no one was paying attention to Apollo or me. A couple of demigods were milling around, adjusting their armor or messing around with their weapons. Other than that, they showed no signs of letting on. "So does this mean I'm still dreaming?"

"An interesting question", Apollo mused, "but not important. What I came here to say is–" Apollo stopped in mid-sentence. "I'll take this as my queue to leave. Until next time, Peyton." He snapped his fingers and disappeared in a curtain of golden light.

When the flash died down, Jack was hovering over me dressed in his armor, widely shaking my shoulders. "Peyton! Peyton!"

It took me a little while to gather my senses to respond. "What?" I snapped a little ruder than I should have.

"You have to get up! I found someone!"