Chapter 1- A Heir is Rising

"Ah. It looks like I win again, Dionysus," Chiron chuckled. He laid out his cards on the table so that the plump and purple-faced man in a tiger-striped shirt could see. Minutes passed and you could literally see the god's face get more purple by the second.

"A flush again! This guy just keeps beating me..." Dionysus thought, sighing as he summoned his goblet to fill up to the brim with diet coke.

"It's good of you to come visit us again ever since you were invited back to Olympus a century ago," commented Chiron.

"Yes, yes, and here we are again playing pinochle..." Dionysus muttered impatiently as he stood up. "Well, I should be going now. I have ten minutes before Billy Joe's party at 10:30 PM starts,"

"Oh, indeed that is, Mr. D. Hopefully you can visit us again in the meantime," Chiron replied, watching Dionysus produce a party hat and a toy kazoo with a pop! The god didn't seem to pay attention to the centaur's comment as he continued,

"You know, Billy Joe has the latest edition of the Pac-Man Deluxe game! Now that, I'm looking forward to," and with that, Dionysus disappeared with a poof of purple smoke smelling strangely of wine. Sighing, Chiron clopped down the stairs, revealing his centaur form of a majestic white stallion. Just as he arrived at the bottom of the stairs, the door in front of him creaked open. Yes, he had been expecting this boy. Chiron knew this boy would come right now and get-

"Why, good evening, Allen. You've come back for your jacket? It's right there on the sofa where you left it." A boy of about fourteen years of age came bustling in, his chestnut brown eyes shining brightly in the light.

"Thanks, Chiron! I never knew 'til now that it was just sitting here in the Big House," Allen said with a grin as he jogged over to retrieve the emerald-colored jacket. A few seconds later, Chiron stood there as he watched the young boy say a kind good night while walking toward the door. Chiron had already turned away and was heading for his office, until Allen's voice stopped him again.

"Um, Chiron? There's someone here who wants to see you, I think," Allen said, his voice suddenly full of caution as he swung the door wide open. A man stood at the entrance wearing a New York City marathon T-shirt along with dark nylon shorts that go well with his running shoes. His salt and pepper hair blew with the chilly breeze that passed through the door. In his right hand was a staff planted firmly on the ground, with two snakes intertwined around the pole. Caduceus.

"Hermes," Chiron said gravely, motioning Allen to come back and sit on the sofa. "What brings you here at this late time?"

"An urgent message, from the gods themselves," Hermes said as he stepped into the room. "Kronos is rising again, and he's rising up faster than before. But. . . there is . . . a heir," The deadly silence continued, the air suddenly getting colder... colder...

Chiron couldn't believe what he'd just heard. Allen's eyes widened as he continued to stare at Hermes, leaning in closer to catch every word that would slip out.

"Impossible," Chiron whispered, absolutely startled by the horrible news. "How?"

"Chiron," Hermes said, "we don't know how powerful this child is, but that shouldn't hinder our steps to stopping the heir, should it? If he lays his hands on his heir, it might even be the end of the gods!" Thunder sounded deafeningly outside the window.

"Where is this heir? We need to track him or her down immediately," Chiron said.

"We cannot tell exactly," Hermes replied, "the heir's scent and power is carefully covered. However, our sources tell us it would be best to start in the Southern part of California, San Diego."

So close to the underworld, Chiron thought. Anxious, he looked down at the boy on the sofa who was cradling his jacket. Chiron had to start making a huge -and maybe even rash- decision that could cost them... a lot. How much trouble would this get them all into?

"Allen," Chiron said. The boy looked up in response, "leave tomorrow at dawn, and take whatever you need. Bring Elli with you; it seems like you'll need her."

Allen looked up in shock, suddenly snapping into focus as he stood up from the sofa and put on his jacket. To Allen, it all looked like this was happening too fast. They were barely prepared for this, and Chiron asks them to leave at the crack of dawn.

"It must be that important then?" Allen asked, looking quizzical.

You have no idea... Chiron thought. Just having Hermes come to Camp Half-Blood is enough to raise multiple stress levels...

"Okay, Chiron! I'll bring this person back to camp as soon as possible," Allen said. It looked as though he was trying to look serious, but Chiron couldn't help but detect a small note of enthusiasm in his voice. "But what will happen then?"

"That," Hermes said quickly, "is only for the gods to decide later. Now go, son of Apollo; you will have a rough journey ahead of you."

"I won't fail, sir," Allen said as he made a salute to Hermes, "Well, you can't really fail in these kinds of situations, can you?" Hermes just looked at him directly, sweat appearing on his brow.

"Don't jinx it."

"Oh... right." The young demigod quickly sprinted out the door. Chiron and Hermes were left alone. Chiron turned and fixed his eyes on the messenger of the gods.

"What will you do with the child, Hermes?" the centaur asked. Hermes sighed as he looked out the window, into the moonlight. Another sound of thunder could be heard rumbling in the distance.

"It was said that, when someone comes along with powers greater than the gods, things will go very, very wrong," Hermes said. "As soon as the heir is brought back to Camp Half-Blood, Chiron, the gods demanded that they..." Hermes trailed off, looking at Chiron's raised eyebrows.

"Kill the heir."