Chapter One

Percy Jackson was returning from a long day at NYU when he noticed the weather. His eyes traveled up to the sky, which was hardly visible due to a heavy mass of fog and mist that had settled in the air sometime during his Technology class.

He tucked his laptop securely into his backpack, and self-consciously patted his back pocket making sure Riptide was still within easy access.

'Probably won't even need it Percy,' he thought to himself as he hailed himself a cab, 'Just because the sky's looking like the Ocean, doesn't mean there's anything more wrong than an afternoon storm.'

Of course, if Percy had learned anything in the past decade it was that everything always meant something, and usually not a good something.

His nerves still were on edge as he climbed the stairs up to Annabeth and his apartment. He unlocked the door, and tripped immediately over a box, falling flat on his face. Percy winced as he heard a not so fantastic snapping sound from his backpack. That computer had been new too…

"Percy!" Annabeth cried, rushing over to help him up. Her blond hair was pulled back in a messy bun and she was wearing one of Percy's sweatshirts that came down to her knees. "Sorry."

Percy waved off the apology, cracking his back as he stood up fully. He pecked Annabeth on the cheek and slung his backpack onto the kitchen table. His eyes skimmed the living room, eyeing each and everyone one of Annabeth's boxes.

After Percy had proposed last month, in a way that was much less romantic then hoped, his eye was still swelled from the Yankee's foul ball, the two had decided that it was finally time for them to move in together.

And living together in caves and tents when they were teenagers was way more different then living together as college seniors in a crappy apartment in the middle of New York.

With a heavy sigh Percy flopped down on the old couch, it creaking under his weight. Annabeth soon settled herself on top of him, her head resting in the crook of Percy's shoulder

"Long day?" she murmured and Percy groaned, running a hand over his eyes.

"You have no idea! Professor Kissinger spent the entire class discussing pixels on a computer screen. And I lost that bet with Matt, so now I'll be buying lunch for the rest of the month. Speaking of which, Matt says Carla wants to know if we'd like to come over to a party at their place on Saturday?"

Annabeth scrunched up her face in concentration before shaking her head, "No, no. That's the first Saturday of camp, we're going for the opening ceremony, Chrion wants us to demonstrate some sword combat."

"Right, too bad though. I've been getting progressively better at beer pong. It would've been nice to show off," Percy grinned and Annabeth smiled softly, before frowning again.

"Have you noticed the weather?"" she asked, completely changing the subject completely, and completely reading Percy's mind.

Percy groaned, pushing himself onto his arms and resting his head on the couch's armrest. "Just like that? You ruined a perfectly happy moment, just like that," Percy tried to joke around the situation, but Annabeth sat up determinedly, crossing her arms.

"So you have? Percy, its kind of hard to miss the fact that the entire sky looks like it's mirroring the Ocean. And I don't care what 'Bry the Weather Guy' says, it's not because of an approaching cold front."

"Yeah, I've noticed Annabeth, but what do you want me to do about it? I can't just dive into the Ocean and ask dad about it. I have finals this week-uff," Percy groaned as Annabeth's elbow dug into his gut as she pushed herself onto her feet.

She paced the length of their small apartment fussing nervously with the sleeves of the jacket. "I know, I know. It's just; it's not exactly a happy sign. I mean stormy weather doesn't exactly ooze the feeling of good. Last time the weather acted up like this…"

"Zeus's lighting bolt was stolen," Percy finished, thinking back to that summer only ten years ago. "I don't know Annabeth, I'm sure nothing is going on that can't wait until this weekend. Then we can ask Chiron all about it, okay?"

Annabeth nodded slightly, her lips pursed as she walked over to the window by their kitchen sink. Clouds swirled around and the sky was a dull green above the mist and fog.

"Annabeth?" Percy stood, walking the short distance to his Fiancé and resting his chin on top of her head. "I know something that will take your mind off of everything," he whispered seductively into her ear, and a smile crept onto her face.

"Percy!" She scolded slapping him lightly on the arm, but she allowed her best friend and fiancé to lead her into the bedroom. The door slamming shut behind them. Percy had been right, they both forgot about everything.

____

Three in the morning is when everything Percy and Annabeth had forgotten came crashing back onto them.

A loud knock on their door is what startled Percy awake; he rubbed the sleep from his eyes and lifted his head cursing softly as he read the clock's flashing 3:08. Careful as to not wake Annabeth, Percy slipped the blanket off of him and stood.

He quickly pulled on a pair of pajama pants and grumbled under his breath as he maneuvered through the maze of boxes on his way to the door.

Now Percy was expecting a number of things at the door this late at night. The landlord expecting they're overdue rent, a monster or perhaps Matt who had been coming over periodically after he and Carla fought.

He was not expecting his old friend Grover, who wore a battered T-shirt and forced grin. And he most definitely wasn't expecting the small child Grover was pushing forward.

"Hey Percy," Grover muttered, his tired eyes surveying the hall around him, as if expecting an attack. Which meant that he probably was.

"Percy?" Annabeth came up behind Percy, stumbling tiredly over boxes before reaching the door. "Grover?"

"Hi Annabeth," Grover greeted, dancing around on his hooves anxiously.

Percy's eyes traveled back down to the kid, who looked to be only seven or eight. His eyes didn't leave the floor and one of his hands fidgeted with the strings on his sweatshirt. He looked horrible.

"Come in!" Annabeth suddenly said, getting over the shock of the situation. She pulled Percy aside and opened the door wider to allow Grover and the boy inside. "Sorry about the boxes, and things. I just started unpacking today, if I had known you were coming…but…" her voice trailed off, as if waiting for Grover to explain his late night visit.

"Annabeth, do you mind putting Weston and I up for the night?" Grover asked.

"It's my apartment," Percy suddenly interrupted, without thinking, but Annabeth didn't seem to notice or care. Instead she just smiled warmly at the young kid and nodded.

"Come one Weston, are you hungry?"

The boy shook his head, his eyes still trained on the ground.

"Tired?"

This time the kid nodded slowly, finally lifting his face. He had dull green eyes that were hidden behind a mess of black hair. His face was caked with dirt and dried blood and a large bruise was forming around his left eye.

Annabeth continued to smile down at the kid, resting a hand on his shoulder and pushing him gently to our bedroom. She looked at Percy meaningfully over her shoulder before the bedroom door closed behind her.

Percy and Grover both immediately collapsed onto the couch, both of them staring at the blank TV screen. They remained silent, well aware that Annabeth would be anything but pleased if Grover started explaining without her there.

Percy watched the digital clock on the TV tick away the minutes, and just as the clock was hitting 3:32 Annabeth walked out of the bedroom, closing the door gently behind her.

She sat down heavily in between Grover and Percy and turned expectantly towards Grover, eyebrows raised. "Well?"

Grover sighed, running a hand through his beard and resting his head in his hands. Percy was suddenly aware of just how old he looked. The years of battle and fighting had left a toll on all of them but Grover bore the brunt of it, streak of grey already lining his hair and beard.

"I've never smelled one so strong this young," he muttered into his hands, "Not even you Percy. I mean, I didn't even mean to find him, but I could smell him from a forest away. The monsters were already on top of him when I got there, thank the gods for the weather, the rain sent them running…I've never seen a monster run just from rain," Grover rambled on and Percy struggled to keep up with the story.

Annabeth seemed to be doing a better job. She leaned forward in her seat, forehead creased, "They were already on him? He can't be more than seven, his scent should be dull, they shouldn't be able to smell him already."

"I don't know how, I don't know why, but that kid smells just as much as much as Camp Half-Blood combined. It's just a miracle I found him before the monsters finished him…he's just a kid, you know? Literally, just a little kid."

"Why do they care about a little kid?" Percy asked, and Annabeth rolled her eyes, turning to her fiancé.

"Maybe because they know he won't be a little kid forever, whatever that kid's prophecy is must be something major," she mumbled the last part more to herself but Grover nodded along.

"And what's even weirder, is the kid doesn't remember anything. Just his name and age. Can't remember his parents or hometown or even why he's out in the middle of the forest. Nothing."

Grover, Percy and Annabeth shared a long look, one mastered over a decade of fighting basically every mythological creature together. A look of fear, confusion, concerns and a little bit of excitement, because everything about this kid screamed a new adventure.

-iVans ::