A/N: If you are wondering whether you can submit OCs or not; You can. I left nearly twenty places open for OCs. Don't be afraid to submit multiple OCs. I will accept all of them, unless it becomes overwhelming. I would prefer it if you PMed me your submissions, but you could send them in by reviewing. I'm posting one fourth of this chapter here, and the rest on a separate story (it will be called "Conditions"). This is the largest chapter I've ever written, nearly 5100 words. Also, please, please tell me how I did. My other story has 107 views and I have no feedback. Please just tell me how I did on this.

Chapter One of Conditions
I don't own PJO or HOO nor do I own the Cover Picture. I only own the plot of this story.


A tall lanky man walked into a alleyway. He appeared to be in his early twenties with brown hair. His face was covered with a skull bandanna and black tinted glasses, hiding his identity. He looked around, eyes darting from object to object looking for danger. Once he deemed it safe the man opened up a metal door. The inside was completely different from the run-down alley. It had all sorts of science equipment. He lowered the mask, revealing a freckled face and green eyes with dark bags under them. He walked to a microscope with, what looked like, a tissue sample. "This is nearly perfect! Those bastards will never know how to kill them, not even that sorry excuse for a hunt goddess." He exclaimed loudly, before laughing madly. His eyes had a tinge of madness in them, the only other thing in his eyes were joy. "Jesus, Torrington. You been laughing like a madman for the past five minutes. You sure you're fine from the trip?" A man in a science coat asked, he had been Torrington's assistant for the past year. "I'm perfect, more than that actually. I've finished it. After all these years I'll be able to crush them!" Torrington responding, ceasing his laughing fit. "What about the mortals, Alabaster?" The assistant asked Alabaster. "Why do you think I went to the pit? I went to claim the title of Lord of Time, and I did so. We have all the time in the world. Continue the plan. " Alabaster bossed, before making the arrangements.

A few days later, a B-1 Lancer flew over the peaceful Camp Half-Blood. It seemed like an average day; Demigods running around the camp doing activities. The bomber plane flew around the camp thrice before dropping a singular bomb, right over the centre. The plane created a sonic boom flying away, alerting the demigods of its presence. One camper pointed out the bomb, and the entire camp froze, fearing the aftermath. The bomb crashed into the centre of the camp with a loud CLANG! The campers stood still, shocked at what transpired. A mechanical whirring sounded out and a sickly-green gas exploded throughout the entire camp, covering every square inch with the gas. Once the campers inhaled the stuff, everything went black. The half-bloods held their breaths but, one by one, they all fell unconscious. Jake "Axe" Axelson was the last camper to fall. He had just finished checking up on his house in Canada, and to say this ruined his day was a understatement. He hated being kidnapped.

Alabaster froze the world, which caused him to faint for several days. When he woke up he found that the world was indeed still frozen. He moved on to the next part of the plan; taking all the demigods in the world and freezing them in time, unknowingly Alabaster froze the entire Greek/Roman pantheon. He then started several wars, but left New York and San Francisco out of it but that left him unconscious for a long time. The two Cities prospered while the rest of the world died out due to wars, people did survive though. Only about one hundred million survived the wars. . Eventually the inhabitants of New York started moving out to explore the world, and one by one they all left. Every other part of the world was desolate wasteland. He made sure that the city looked like it had been deserted for a month, but every store was fully stocked. He knew that the half-bloods thought that he just messed around a bit but he did so much more. He was lucky that he didn't need sustenance while time was frozen. He made sure that New York was completely empty, so that the demigods could grab supplies and think they have a chance at surviving. It was all a trial, a game for his amusement and for the betterment of humanity. Without the Olympians the world would be a better place. Only the strongest shall survive and from them I will craft a better breed of humans. Then I will become the one true god! Alabaster thought. He worked like this for a long time, setting everything up, planting seeds in people's minds. By the time he was done he'd created a masterpiece. He tampered with time so much all he needed to do was start time and, soon, he would become the one true god. There was so many thing that would happen; for example: While Olivia Telulus and Jake Axelson fight a group of bandits will sneak up on them and ambush them. He didn't care for the outcome. The demigods didn't matter to him anyway. All that mattered was his end was truly a masterpiece. They would get so much hope then it would get crushed, only for the cycle to repeat and drive some crazy. The ones who would survive would be the people he uses as a template for the better human race.

Jake woke up in a dark space, surrounded by twenty-ish bodies. The first thing he did was grab for his enchanted necklace,which was still there, that when pulled turned into his Stygian Iron sword. He could hardly see anything, only the other blobs around him. Slowly, everyone else woke up with groans. There were a few familiar faces that Jake could see. Namely; Olivia Telulus, his least favorite person. Her fatal flaw is hubris, she hardly talks to anyone, uses a katana; which Jake thinks is impractical in combat and most of all; a liar. Jake hated liars with every ounce of his being. Though Telulus didn't always lie, she was very talented in that horrid subject. Jake was shaken out of his thoughts by the blinding lights illuminating the large room. There were, what looked like, eight metallic panel doors on the walls. The panels sunk into the floor. When the captives saw what was behind them, the room went into utter chaos.

Jake was stunned. Never before in his twenty-five years of immortality did he ever see such a...disturbing sight. Behind each panel was another panel door, this time clear, with what only could be described as demons. Seven foot tall werewolf-like creatures. Chunks of hair and skin had fallen off. Surprisingly, there was no blood to be seen. The creatures eyes glowed with fire, literally. The sharp canines were dripping Greek fire. Greek Fire! How the hell does one accomplish that? Jake thought. The claws of the beasts were long, seven to eight inches, and looked like Stygian iron. That metal could destroy souls! Whoever's doing this is a sick bastard. He continued to observe the foul beasts. A projection of a scientist light up an empty spot on the wall. "Hello. My name is Alabaster C. Torrington. As you can see, these creatures were bred to kill. No other goal in mind other than to kill. The reason you are here is for trials. Your first, and only trial is to survive for as long as possible." Alabaster laughed madly. "You're not going to survive. Trust me. There is a door behind my projection. You cannot escape my creations. You will die by their hands." The projection disappeared. There was a metal escape door there, too small for the were-demon-things, but just big enough for the demigods. "That was optimistic" A random camper sarcastically said, probably an attempt to cheer everyone up. 'Everyone, GET TO THE GODSDAMNED DOOR!" Another camper yelled. Everyone started rushing the door. The beasts were let free, killing people at the back. Each monster was eating a unlucky demigod, giving the rest time to escape. Jake was the last one out. They were in an alley somewhere. "We need to block that door. Those things will be a ten times faster than us." Jake ordered. Everyone looked around, in shock that they had such a close encounter with death. "Fine. I'll do it myself" Jake moved as many objects in front of the door, stacking dumpsters, etc. "We need to get out of here. I have no idea where the hell we are, or how long that barricade is going to last; the one that I built." Jake said, assuming group leadership. "Why should we listen to you?" Olivia questioned. Great, just what I need. He thought. "Do you have a problem with me or something? Every time I do anything around you, you will question me. I've been through several kidnappings in my life. I know how to survive in these types of conditions. If we have bigger numbers then we have a better chance at lasting 'till we figure out whatever is happening. If you don't trust me, go own your own. I don't do second chances." Jake snapped, pebbles started floating around him, his aura got overwhelmed everyone. Jake closed his eyes and said "If you don't want to live out here, leave now and don't look back."

Thankfully, no one left. Unfortunately Olivia stayed. Jake was hoping she would leave and go own her own. In Capture the flag games at camp, she would only do what she thought was best. (Which resulted in a few fights between Jake and Olivia.) Once they exited the alley they figured out they were in New York City, which is pretty convenient for Jake considering that he knew the layout of NYC pretty well. It was really eerie seeing the city empty, cars strewn across the roads. It looked fairly recent, within a month or so, that everyone left.. They walked for about half an hour before arriving at a large gun store. "Alright everybody. You may or may not like stealing but considering that the New York is currently deserted, I don't think anyone will care. And I'm sure that our weapons will work on the wildlife. So, Grab whatever storage item you can and pack up as many guns as you can. I will be in charge of accessories and ammunition. Lets go!" Jake ordered, breaking down the door. Everyone was relatively quiet, only a few people talking to each other as they grabbed the guns. It may be a bit overkill to grab over a hundred guns, but Jake had a plan. It took about an hour to grab everything inside the store. A nineteen year old named Jacob suggested that they take all the apparel and gear the store had, needless to say everyone was carrying a lot of weight now. Jake had a tactical backpack on, as well as a large gun bag. "Alright, we are going to find a bus or a boxer truck to use. I know where a nearby school is, about thirty minute walk from here." Jake said, motioning towards everybody's left. Thankfully, Olivia didn't argue this time. She seemed rather distant. The only bad thing is that she didn't carry anything other than a British L115A3 AWM with a few attachments for it.

After a forty-five minute walk they arrived at the school. Two teenagers, about the age of thirteen, complained about being tired. A man named Raven sympathized for the kids and took their bags for them. The three seemed to be friends now. "Everyone wait here and take a breather. I'm going to look for a fueled bus to transport us. Olivia, come with me. We have to talk." Jake bossed as he set down the heavy bag of guns on the ground. He was going to have an argument with Olivia about their status. Jake didn't want an argument but knowing about Olivia's hatred for him would, undoubtedly, lead to one. Sad, Jake though that she was the only one who could help him manage the large group of twenty-two. Olivia followed Jake with an angry look. She wasn't looking forward to this either. Hell, she hated the arrogant man.

The two walked behind the school. Jake turned around. "What the hell is your problem with me, huh? What 'ave I done to you? Do you even know what's going on?" Jake shouted, an Irish accent came out when he started shouting. "My problem with you is your arrogance and the way you try and control everyone." Olivia stated, perfectly calm. "I'm arrogant? You have no idea who I am, Telulus. I'm trying to survive here. You don't like the way I'm leading then screw off. This world isn't friendly. You think I made everyone grab those guns for wildlife? No, I grabbed them for protection against other humans. There are no rules anymore. New York is gone. How do you think the rest of the world is doing? I've seen what Alabaster can do, it's not pretty. I'm controlling everyone for their safety." Jake was screaming again, the ground around him was cracking, his aura was completely visible now, a mixture of silver and green light. His eyes turned into a violent red. Olivia on the other hand agitated. Her aura was there, but is was canceled out by Jake's. "Protection against other people? Everyone's safety? What kind of world do you like in, Axelson?" Olivia asked, electricity was sparking off her skin, her irises changed from an electric green to a white-ish blue mixture swirling in anger, her scarlet red hair with bits of black was floating in the air. She was almost a foot shorter than Jake, topping out at five foot nine. If they got into a fight Jake would undoubtedly win, he had much more expertise in hand-to-hand combat and he was a lot bigger than her. He would have a lot of injuries though, Olivia was a skilled fighter. Jake reached behind him and pulled out a FNX-45 pistol. Olivia's eyes widened, she had even less of a chance of living now. "I live in the real world. I am the immortal son of Gaea and Coeus. I have been alive far longer than you. I have seen things that could drive gods insane. Don't test me." Jake snarled, cocking the hammer of the gun. His eyes darted to the right, looking behind Olivia. She saw this as the perfect time to disarm Jake, but before she could Jake fired three rounds in rapid succession A strangled yelp was heard but Olivia had already knocked the gun out of Jake's hands and was repeatedly punching him in the face. Jake threw Olivia off him and she went flying into the brick wall. "The fuck is wrong with you? I saved your life, if I hadn't shot that wolf you would be missing a throat. Smarten the fuck up." Jake roared pointing to a dead wolf, his eye was heavily bruised and he had blood dripping out his mouth. His aura had calmed down and he'd gotten control of his powers. "Go back to the group. Don't speak to me again, ever. Next time something like this happens I will break you." He growled, as he put his gun into his back waistband. Olivia glared at him, wincing as several cracks were heard from her back. She swore that she would hurt him, maybe even kill him later on. He'd gotten in her way once, the next time she would kill him.

Jake felt the adrenaline wear off, and the pain started. His jaw was fractured, he felt the crack through his jaw, his right eye was swollen shut and his lip was badly split. He needed medical treatment, very soon. He stumbled over to the nearest window and shattered it with his elbow. It hurt a lot, the movies portray it as easy to break but it isn't. He climbed in. He sliced his hands and knees on the way in, causing even more injuries to treat. His vision started blurring. Damn, she punches pretty hard. Jake thought. He wandered through the school, trying to find the Nurse's office. After five minutes he finally found it. The place looked looted, crushing his hopes. He still looked and was glad he did. He found a stick of epinephrine, adrenaline, and quickly injected himself with the substance. His vision returned and he found a large amount of gauze. Jake wrapped his knees and hands with it. He grabbed all the medical supplies that were left and shoved them into his backpack that he took from the store. He pulled a black pair of glasses and put them on, hopefully covering his black eye. He continued his search for a fueled bus, it didn't take long. The real problem was getting it to start without any tools. Jake spent a few minutes working on the engine, turns out it the carburetor was clogged up. The bus came alive with a loud roar. Jake drove it around to the group. A few were leaning against the metal fence sleeping, but the load bus woke them up. "Grab everything and get in. We have to find a safe place to sleep." Jake said, opening the door. Everyone slowly got up, and got in. Olivia gave Jake a harsh glare as she walked by. She sat at the very back, glaring at anyone who came close. People started making friends. Jake learned a few people's names; Jesy, an Asian-Chinese eighteen year old female, Raven, a tall adult that was very muscled, Kristen, a seventeen year old female teenager, Margo, a female sixteen year old, Jeremy, a tall adult, Emily and Amy, two thirteen year olds, Archie, an eighteen year old of German descent, Alex, a fifteen year old girl and Manuel, an adult who can control fire.

Jake stopped the bus outside his friend's, Matt, place. He hoped that Matt was okay and still alive. Matt had said that he was always welcome at his place. "Why are we stopped?" A girl, Kristen, asked. "Shelter, a friend of mine said I could use his place at any time." Jake answered, grabbing several gun bags and getting out. Jake never realized how late it was. It looked like it was, at least, nine P.M. Everyone got out and followed him. Jake walked to the entrance and broke down the door. There was a glass door that had an electric lock, luckily there was no power and the door was already unlocked. They took the stairs up to the sixth floor. Almost everyone was tired from the walk up because of the fifty-ish pounds of gear on their backs. Jake told everyone to take a rest while he opened the door checked the apartment. Jake walked up to the double doors and slowly opened them with his gun drawn. The room had power, which was really weird considering the condition of New York. Jake was about to head upstairs when he felt cold metal touch the back of his head. "Drop the gun and turn around" A man demanded. He did as he was told and swiveled around. The man was wearing full tactical gear and a mask that covered his lower face. He lowered the mask revealing the face of Matt. "Axe? Is that you?" Matt asked. He didn't think that Jake would be alive. "Sure is Knox." Jake answered, giving Matt a manly-hug. "I bet it has been what, ten years?" Matt said, putting his pistol back in its holster. "I'd say so. How the hell have you been staying alive?" Jake asked. " Magical cornucopia." Matt shrugged. "How did this all happened?" Jake asked. "Well, it's a long story. Basically I woke up in my bed "I'm guessing that you have a few guests looking for a place to stay? They've been pretty loud, Cousin." Matt observed, motioning towards the door. "Yeah. Twenty-two demigods. Hope you have the room." Jake responded, walking towards the door. " Of course I got the room. I live in a penthouse for crying out loud." Matt said from behind. "Alright guys, it's all good." Jake said, beckoning everyone forward. They all looked oddly at Matt, who was still wearing full tactical gear. "Y'all can stop staring now. I'm Matt 'Knox' O'Hara. My father is Krios, Titan of leadership and domesticated animals, and this idiots cousin." Matt greeted, nudging Jake. "I own this wonderful place. I have enough space for everyone to sleep. Eight bedrooms are available, along with five couches. There are blankets in the room marked 'Storage'. There also is a large amount of food in the fridge and pantry." Matt told everyone as they set down the heavy bags of stuff from the gun store. "What's with the bags? Did you rob a gun store of something?" Matt asked, picking two up. "Yup. I didn't know if you still had yours. Also, can I have keys to your garage? I have a school bus that needs storage." Jake answered, following Matt with several bags as well. "I won't question that. Keys are in my room. I actually have my guns. Although I'm missing a few. We can store these in the armoury." Matt told him. They brought all the bags into the upstairs armoury. Matt said he would organize everything while Jake parked the bus. He drove the bus behind the apartment building and into Matt's private underground garage. He was very surprised at what Matt had. There was a great many armoured vehicles, even some attack vehicles. The garage was even bigger than when he was last here. He parked the worn down bus in the last empty space. He walked back to the apartment expecting to find everyone awake and chatting but everyone was asleep. The journey and mental stress must've taken a lot out of them. He found Matt in his "Study". It was really a high tech planning room with several high-tech computers with all sorts of stuff on them. Matt had reverse engineered one of Daedalus' computers after finding his workshop. The amount of stuff in there was amazing. Everyone thought that Daedalus' workshop was destroyed, but it wasn't. Long story short; Matt had taken everything and reverse engineered it all. "This place won't be safe much longer, Jake. Why do you think I was wearing all that gear? The backup generators won't last much longer. I've activated all the security measures but they'll only last 'till tomorrow night. We need to move. I'm sure you saw all the vehicles I have. I've made a partial plan. All I need is a destination, then we can start." Matt confessed, he looked very worried. Jake knew that Matt had a hard time being responsible for large numbers, his father was the Titan of leadership. He tended to over think everything, which would cause him to see everyone die because he didn't think everything through. "I have a place that we can go. You still own that cargoplane right?" Jake answered, looking over Matt's notes. "Yeah, I do. It's stored at the airport. Although we might run into some bandits on the way there. I doubt they'll attack us if we move in a armed convoy though." Matt informed. "Alright. We'll wake everyone up at six A.M. Then we empty out the house, then take the 'War Convoy', whatever that means, drive to the airport, load up the plane, fly to Canada, unload the plane in Alberta, then go to my safe house. Wait, We need to go to Camp Half-Blood first. Some of us have pets and we'll be able to grab our magical items. I'm getting worried about Hendrix. I'm sure that the others are worrying about their animals too." Jake paused, thinking about his wonderful companion. "Hell, we might even find some more campers. We only had thirty of us when we woke up. We lost eight people today." Jake said, his facial features darkening. "Wait, woke up? Did you get kidnapped again?" Matt asked. "Yup, by Alabaster C. Torrington. I have no idea where the other demigods are, hopefully we'll find some more demigods. I'm off to bed. I can trust that you'll wake everyone up right?" Matt nodded, then went back to his planning. Jake went to his room that Matt had given him and collapsed on the bed, falling into the realms of Morpheus.

Loud alarms woke everyone up at six A.M. Jake woke up an hour before, helping Matt make the final arrangements. Matt explained everything and help divide up the stuff they'd be taking. Olivia glared at Jake when she passed by/ She glared at Matt too, he frowned at that, almost if to say "What did I do to you?". The group went into the private garage and started loading the bags into the back of, what Matt called, "The Knox". It was a heavily armoured semi-truck with a storage trailer.. Everything was bulletproof. It looked like something you'd find in an action movie made by Michael Bay. It took two hours for everything to be stored inside the truck. Matt had put all the guns into crates to make transport easier, but not loading. By the very end the had loaded Matt's extremely large armoury and everything else, that was important, into the truck. Jake made everybody wear plate carriers for protection. He himself looked like a mercenary, with his preferred combat gear. They had a total of five vehicles in the convoy. One armed Mine Resistant Ambush Protected, or MRAP, truck and two armed Gurkha F5s with 50. caliber machine guns mounted on top, as well as the "Knox Truck". Although only a few people could use the guns, all positions were filled. The few people that could were Jake's good friends that he'd taught how to use guns were on the 50. caliber machine guns. Olivia kept shooting Jake dirty looks. He would try and talk to her about it when they stop for a break.. They soon were on the road and headed towards Camp Half-Blood.

Halfway to Camp Half-Blood, during the rest stop, Jake started walking over to Olivia when two hostile trucks rolled up to the stopped convoy. One of the people in the truck climbed out of the window and started aiming at the nearest person, which happened to be Olivia. Jake slammed into her, as the man shot, bringing her into the cover of the MRAP. Jake quickly climbed off and started shooting back. All of the mounted machine guns started firing at the two trucks, quickly decimating the trucks. Jake walked off without a word towards Olivia. She noticed that there was a dent on his plate carrier, right where he head would've been if he hadn't tackled her. They checked up on everyone for wounds and the only one who was injured was Jake. He had severe bruising on his back due to the bullet. Sadly, they didn't have any ambrosia or nectar.

Jake was rather quiet for the rest of the drive. Why did he save Olivia? He had no reason to. In fact; the group would've operated better without her. He was very confused on what made him save her. Perhaps it was because of his time in the military with Matt? No, that's not it. He thought. Maybe it was because she was a good fighter, one of the best in the group. Yeah, that has to be it. Jake reasoned.

They arrived at the Camp Half-Blood at around midday. Jake told everyone to stay inside the vehicles while he and Matt check out the camp. Both men had experience clearing compounds in the military and Jake didn't want to risk lives by taking them into a, possibly, unsafe area. Jake took point and raised his custom HK-416. Matt followed, except he had a custom G36C. They walked up the hill, checking every angle for threats. When the two reached the crest of the hill they saw a flash in the trees, a telltale sign of a scope. They took cover behind separate trees. "There's obviously people here. We have to get past the boundary, then they'll know we're half-bloods. If they engage. Fire near them, not at." Jake ordered. In unison they rushed the boundary. An arrow whizzed by Jake's head, embedding itself in a tree. They passed the boundary. When they a large number of demigods popped out of nowhere, dressed in full battle armour , with weapons drawn and pointed at the two. "Who are you?" One asked, stepping forward, presumably the leader with a handgun pointed at Jake. "I'm Jake Axelson and this is Matt O'Hara. Now that you know our names, tell us yours." Jake responded lowering his face mask. The leader "Jake, I thought you died. When we all woke up we only had about fifteen or so, now we have ten." Euth said, he was one of Jake's good friends. "Shit. That's not good, man. We woke up with thirty people. We total twenty-four. We lost eight people when we woke up. The only thing majorly troubling me is where are the rest of us? I haven't seen any roman demigods, or anymore demigods aside from you guys." Jake mused. "I really have no idea Jake. You said that you total twenty-four. Where is the other twenty-two?" Euth asked. "Their down the hill. I didn't know if the camp was hostile or not so I didn't want to risk anyone's life." Jake said, pointing towards the hill crest. "Well, get them up here. We've been taking care of all the pets, Hendrix has been very antsy lately." Euth spoke. Jake went down and told everyone to drive up the hill. They knocked down a few trees but they got through after an hour of precision driving.

Everyone eventually settled in, the ones who had pets got reunited. Jake got tackled by his tank-sized Direwolf. Matt talked to Jake about cancelling the route to Canada and changed it so they would be heading to Camp Jupiter to see if they could find the Romans. After they find the Romans they would unite and take down the bastard Torrington. Jake was pretty sure that Torrington caused all of this, so he'd need a lot of firepower to kill him. One of the many things that confused Jake was what the gods were doing. Why hadn't they fixed anything or even contacted them. Jake shook the thoughts out of his head. He walked over to the Big House, as he didn't have a cabin to sleep in, and walked to his room. He collapsed onto the bed. He fell asleep within seconds, all of the stress and injuries catching up to him. He wasn't prepared for what was to come tomorrow morning.


A/N: I left y'all off with a cliffhanger, hehe. I'm going camping for a week so it'll be two or so weeks until the next chapter is done. If I don't have any feedback when I get back I will break something. Probably one of my broken keyboards or mouses. Special thanks to Slone13 for continuously supporting me when I was writing this chapter.