Prologue

Disclaimer: I don't own the Percy Jackson series. I'm merely practicing my writing partially with fanfics.

I was at the edge of camp with my sister, my twin, in that space of time between night and day. We were arguing at the bottom of half-blood hill, on the border. We'd have gone over the hill, it was the quickest way out, but neither of us wanted to risk being seen by whoever was guarding the fleece that night. I tried to understand why she was leaving, and tried to convince her not to. She tried to understand why I was staying, and tried to convince me not to.

"Sybelle, please! At least tell me why?" I pleaded, hoping that she would give me something I could argue against. Praying she would change her mind and stay after all. Maybe I should have known that the gods had better things to do than listen to the desperate prayer of a frightened and confused child. We'd been arguing for days and I was running out of arguments.

"Because the gods are merciless." She replied. I couldn't understand how she was staying so calm when I felt like I was being ripped in two. Part of me wanted so badly to go with her, if only so that we wouldn't be fighting against each other. But there was another part of me, apparently stronger, that said I had to stay. That there was something here worth fighting for, some reason that the gods were still worth defending… Even if I didn't know what that reason was.

"You don't believe that." I said, though I knew she did. I did too. "In any case, the Titans are just as bad, if not worse!" Surely that was it, the reason I couldn't go… The Titans were worse than the gods. I was simply choosing the lesser of two evils. But if that was the case why wouldn't I choose my sister over either of them? If I was only choosing between two evils, why did it matter so much?

Sybelle shook her head, looking at me with this patiently frustrated look. "When both sides are merciless, why does it matter to you who wins?" she asked. I wonder if she even realized that she echoed my thoughts nearly perfectly.

And I was still there, trying to figure out the answer, long after she left to join Luke's army. After she left me alone at camp to face the accusing looks of those who would never believe I wasn't siding with my sister as I'd always done before.

Suddenly Sybelle was back, staring at me with eyes darker than I knew them to be. She was dressed differently too, wearing armor like we were about to go into battle. I knew then I was dreaming, because when Sybelle left camp she never looked back.

"Be careful Cassie, he's baiting the trap…"

Just as I was about to ask what she meant I realized that I was no longer standing at the bottom of half-blood hill, but in the middle of the Olympian throne room.

That is a really huge room by the way; you'd think it would be easy not to look at anyone with only ten other people in a room that massive. But when the people you're trying to avoid seeing are roughly twenty feet tall, the room gets smaller fast. Oh, it's still huge, just not as insanely huge. The fact that all those twenty-foot-tall people were staring at me also made it harder not to look back at them. But I don't think anyone would want to see ten angry gods, especially if they happened to be angry at you.

I stood in the center of the throne room, determinedly staring at the floor to avoid seeing them. I didn't want to see the faint pain etched into Hermes' features or the look of disgust from Ares. I couldn't bear the thought of Athena's cold scrutiny or the angry disappointment Dionysus was barely even trying to hide behind his customary look of boredom. Have I mentioned how shiny and reflective the floor is? No? Well, it's very shiny and reflective. So reflective in fact, that staring at the floor to avoid seeing them doesn't really work. They're all reflected with terrifying clarity.

Even worse, the two empty thrones were reflected too. And though I wasn't sure what had happened I somehow knew that the two missing Olympians, the only ones who might have spoken in my defense, were gone because of me. Because of something I did, I just had no clue what it was.

I stared at the broken weapons lying at Zeus' feet, their image burning into my mind. The weapons of the gods were supposed to be indestructible, or nearly, but these were shattered beyond repair. Just like the ones who used to wield them, immortals who were gone just the same.

"Cassandra McNova! You have heard the charges!" Zeus thundered, and I flinched but still did not raise my gaze. "Do you deny them?"

"No Lord Zeus…" How could I? I didn't even understand what had happened or my part in it. I closed my eyes as Zeus stood and called for the vote, I could hear my heart racing in the seemingly endless silence that followed, and then even my closed eyes couldn't protect me from the nearly blinding flash.

I shot up in the bed, the scream ripping from my throat before I could stop it. I'd been having nightmares like that every night since the war ended, and I was starting to think it was getting to me. Actually, it was getting to me. Big time. I hardly slept anymore and I was losing weight because I was often too tired and upset to eat. I counted myself lucky that most everyone attributed my sudden lack of appetite to losing my sister.

My uncle burst into my room moments after I screamed. He was a big burly man with dark hair, ruddy skin, and kind brown eyes. He was my mother's brother and had raised me nearly as far back as I could remember. I only had vague memories of my mother, probably not all that surprising since she died in a car crash right before I turned six. He'd been raising me ever since.

"What's wrong?" He asked urgently, looking around my room like he expected to see a monster hiding behind the door or something. Okay, so that was a possibility, it had happened before. But only once and Sybelle and I had handled it just fine without his help.

"It was just a dream Uncle John… Nothing to worry about." I told him, even doing my best to summon a smile. "Only natural after last year right?" Anyone would have nightmares after losing a sister in a war you were on opposite sides of. Of course, that had nothing to do with why I was having nightmares. Bad dreams are pretty much par for the course when you're a half-blood, but why would I tell my uncle that? I suspected he knew more about my position than he admited.

"I guess… Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine Uncle John." I insisted, "I'm leaving for Camp this afternoon remember?" I had to fight to keep the smile in place as my stomach twisted at my words. I hadn't meant to mention my leaving, I didn't want to deal with the argument that always came when I mentioned camp to my uncle. Besides, I couldn't shake the feeling that something awful was going to happen when I got to camp, so his argument might actually work this year. As far I knew the only time he ever even acknowledged the gods existing was to argue against me going to camp.

Uncle John frowned slightly, then smiled. It looked rather forced, but he smiled none the less. "Yeah, I remember. I'm glad you're going back kiddo, it'll be good for you." He said, sounding very much as though he would like nothing more than to choke on the words; it made me wonder if someone had threatened him. My first time going to camp he packed our bags himself after a golden arrow streaked by him and imbedded itself deep in a tree. Five minutes before that he'd explained to Kinder, the satyr that had come to collect Linus, that there was no chance any of us would be going to camp. Ever.

He glanced out the window, where the sunrise was visible. "You should try to get some more sleep; your train doesn't leave till three. I'll be in the shop if you need me." Having said that he left me alone again, closing the door behind him. He would probably go downstairs to his workshop and work on one of his metal monstrosities that were selling for so much in world of modern art. I've never understood modern art.

I sighed as I got up, wishing I could take his advice; but there was never any going back to sleep after one those dreams. I'd undoubtedly nap later though, I couldn't avoid sleep forever and trying was starting to wear on my health. As I started shuffling slowly towards my bathroom my eyes fell on the piece of gold paper which had sat on my dresser since spring break, held down by a golden drachma. I had spent spring break at home, despite Chiron's invitation and my uncle's half-hearted urging, and Hermes had delivered the note from my father the following Monday.

The note was short reading simply 'You need only to ask'; the drachma currently weighing it down had come in the envelope with it. I wondered what my father meant by that cryptic note, and wished I could just ask him. But I was pretty sure randomly calling up a god to ask insolent questions would be something like suicide. And you never really knew what they'd count as an insolent question, so usually I found it safest not ask them anything. My eyes shifted to the mirror over the dresser as I thought about it, and couldn't help but see my sister staring back at me. The same hazel eyes, the same narrow nose, the same long strawberry-blonde hair…

Without fully realizing what I was doing, and without taking my eyes off the image, I snatched the heavy bronze paperweight off my desk and hurled it at the mirror. I stumbled back and sat back down on the bed when the glass shattered, just listening to the pounding of my heart and my uncle's feet as he came running back up the stairs to make sure I was okay. Just like he always did. I couldn't say the same about the gods, not even my father. They never answered when I asked for their help. So… Why hadn't I gone with my sister? Why did I fight for the gods when I couldn't even say why it mattered to me who won?

Author's Note: This mostly written to practice writing in first person, and of course no offense is meant to anyone. I'm also trying to keep on topic, while also remembering that she would have ADHD and dyslexia… I haven't needed to write about the dyslexia yet, but I'm still trying to keep it in mind.