Disclaimer: I don't own PJO

BOOK ONE: The Cold War

"Storms come, and are so personal, they seem to know your address

and have the key to your house."

-Reverend Jesse Jackson

The Eye of the Storm

ARIZONA

The thin black haired girl tossed and turned in her bed. It was two in the morning and storming outside on a cold December 15th. She struggled under her blankets, whimpering as she tried to force herself awake. Suddenly, a loud clap of thunder caused the girl to shoot up, a flash of lightning showing itself for a mere second, causing her honey brown eyes to appear clear. She gasped for a breath of air, listening to the fast pace of her heart beating.

"M-mommy." Arizona called out, pulling the blanket up to her chest.

"Yes, dear?" her mother, who couldn't sleep due to the storm, asked once she walked into her daughter's room.

"Can you lay with me?" Arizona asked, looking at her mother with pleading eyes.

"Sweetie, you're thirteen now." her mom said, staring at her with a sympathetic look that she couldn't see in the dark room.

"But, Mary, please." Arizona almost begged.

"Okay, dear." Mary said, climbing into the bed with the girl and holding her.

Mary Johnson was not the birth mother to Arizona, but when her best friend Kayla Reid came to her and asked her to take care of her daughter, she did. That was thirteen years ago and since then, Mary hadn't heard from her. She hadn't known anything about Arizona's father. She'd never even met the man, heard a name or saw a face. One day Kayla just showed up and told Mary that she was pregnant. Mary and Kayla were fairly young at the time, only twenty-five so to say that Mary was shocked would be an understatement. After Mary had calmed down, Kayla asked her for the biggest favor of her life- to raise her unborn daughter.

Mary said yes without a seconds hesitation.

Then Kayla disappeared.

"Mom," Arizona whispered softly.

"Yes, baby?" Mary asked, looking down at her.

"Will you tell me another story about my other mom?" she asked.

Lightning flashed and Arizona saw an absent smile play on Mary's lips.

"Of course. Our senior year in high school, it was our job to plan the prank. Everyone knew we liked trouble and we had pretty good senses of humor, plus we were pretty efficient. So-"

She'd told this story a thousand times but each time Arizona listened intently until she fell asleep. She'd never gotten the chance to hear the ending. Arizona, still listening to the story, fell asleep with a smile on her face. As Mary continued to tell the story of how they'd made a fake bomb, thunder rocked the house. Mary had known her fate for years, learning it shortly after being put in control of Arizona once she was born. That was the day she learned why she never met Arizona's father, well up to that point at least. Once Mary had gotten Arizona home safely, she saw a man in her home. He told her his name and who he was. He was Arizona's father. The way he said Ari, like it was the only thing he'd ever heard, made her wonder if he even knew her full name. She wondered where he was when she was born. Had he been with Kayla? Mary wouldn't have known since she was at work. She assumed he wasn't.

He told her that he was a Greek god, which in return made Mary laugh so loud it startled the sleeping infant in her arms. No matter what she did, she couldn't get the baby to stop crying her loud soprano wails. The man had slowly taken the child into his arms and Mary almost protested but the child stopped crying. The man handed the child back to her and then proceeded to tell her she'd never see Kayla again. When Mary asked why, he merely held up his hand as if asking her to stop talking. He then continued by telling her she'd die when Arizona was of age during a storm. But that was only if she wanted to protect her. He told her she'd know when to make her choice and that he hoped she made the right one. He never continued on by telling her what the "right one" would be. He just left.

And she never saw him again.

She remembered thinking he was a very odd man, definitely not someone she'd imagine Kayla with. Kayla was a preppy dresser, someone who cared about make-up and the social status. Sure, she was pretty bad-ass, though. That was probably what attracted her to the dark man. When Mary was around him she felt as though he was a sinister, care-free person. She'd fallen in love instantly, even though he told her her choices between life or death. But as she fell in love with him in one way, she fell in love with Arizona in another. She knew she'd do anything to protect the infant.

Now she stood at the door of Lyn's room, watching the thirteen year old sleep. She blew her a kiss, knowing she'd never know about it, and walked out of the room as the sounds of thunder shook her house and the glare of lightning blinded her eyes. If there was ever a time to make a decision, it'd be now. And she knew it. A knock came at the door, piercing her ears like a hammer. She heard Arizona mumble a few things over the thunder which meant he was here to get her. He was taking her baby girl and he was leaving without even saying good-bye. The man she met only once but loved a thousand times was here to do his part, able to tell her decision. He was here to help Arizona.

The knock came again.

"Hello," she said, opening the door, staring at the man outside her home. "you must be the brother."

Without saying a word, he stepped inside her home. His long trench coat was dripping with water as was his hair. He walked into the room where Arizona would be and Mary prayed that they'd gotten out. Once the man came out empty handed, she let out a breath she didn't even realize she was holding. He pushed her against the wall, his hand around her throat.

"Where is she?" he barked, glaring at her.

"Gone," she gasped, trying to get a hold to any air she could. "probably safe at camp."

The man pulled back and pushed her against the wall again and suddenly she felt as though she were being shocked. Only then did she realize she was being electrocuted, and it was too late. She'd decided her fate. Zeus discarded the body, throwing the lifeless corpse aside and vanished out of the room.

~X~X~X~

Arizona woke up in a bed with black sheets, pillows and a black blanket. She felt the sheets, feeling how smooth they were. She was definitely not home, not with these silk sheets. She sat up and ran a hand through her dark, tangled hair, breaking through the tangles with her fingers.

"Chiron told me to wait for you to wake up." a voice chimed through the silence, startling her to the point where she jumped slightly.

She turned to find a chuckling blonde haired boy. He was tall. Maybe around six foot. That was definitely much taller than her, being that she was only 5'3. He flashed her a bright, genuine smile as he forced himself to stop laughing at her expense. She hadn't even noticed she was scowling.

"Who is Chiron? Who are you?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at him, "Where am I?"

"Chiron is the camp's very own pet Centaur. I'm your cousin, Jonas Worthington, son of Zeus. You're Arizona, right?" he asked, walking over and sitting beside her.

"Yes. Son of Zeus? As in the Greek god?" she asked, smoothing out her red Polo shirt.

"Yes, as in the Greek god." he answered, nodding.

"I don't believe you."

He grinned and his baby blue eyes twinkled as he held his hand up to her and little sparks of purple lightning danced around in his palm, making soft hissing sounds. She went to touch his hand but he closed it quickly.

"Don't touch it, it can hurt you." he said, scolding her.

"I'm sorry." she said, shocked, "How did I get here?"

"Your dad brought you last night. Everyone's pretty shocked about it." he answered, clearing his throat.

"My dad?"

"Hades." he answered, sympathetically.

She looked at him for a moment before looking away.

"You say that like it's a bad thing." she mumbled.

He put his hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry to say, but it is."

She turned and looked at him, hurt evident in her honey eyes.

"Why?"

He looked away. He'd only just met her and he was the one that had to break the news to her.

"Everyone wants you dead."

Arizona merely nodded. Sure, it wasn't the most exciting news. Maybe being told she was getting a puppy or a kitten would have been just a tad better, but she wasn't going to show how upset she was. She looked around the dark room one more time before her eyes landed on her cousin. Jonas. He caught her analyzing him and offered a shy wave.

"It could be worse." she mumbled after a moment.

"How?" he asked.

"They could have already tried to kill me." she shrugged.

Jonas grinned and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Come on, I have some people to introduce you to." he said, standing with her.

She followed him out of the room, her long black hair covered her back falling into loose, weightless curls near the ends. She was dressed in what she fell asleep in- a shirt, shorts and socks-and she felt oddly under dressed as she passed by strangers all dressed in orange shirts and some sort of shorts, jeans or skirts along with various shoes. She inched closer to Jonas who'd kept his hand on her shoulder the entire time. After about three minutes of walking, Jonas stopped them at a small beach with a boy there. His bareback was to her and she admired his tan complexion while his light brown hair blew slightly with a weak breeze. She could practically smell the ocean oozing off of him.

"Caleb!" Jonas called, rushing up and tackling the boy into the water as he chuckled.

"What the hell, Jonas!" Caleb asked, outraged as water pulled Jonas under.

Arizona was too shocked to do anything but watch as the two completely not normal teenagers messed around.

"Okay, okay!" Jonas coughed with laughter as the water calmed, "You win, Finn, you win."

The boy, Caleb or Finn or whatever his name was glared at the goofy smile on the boy's face. He then turned his attention to Arizona as if he'd just noticed her.

"This is Arizona?" the boy asked, analyzing her.

"Yeah, Arizona this is our cousin, Caleb Smith. Or Finn. Or whatever." Jonas grinned, jumping the boy into the water again.

"Gods dammit, Jonas! I'll freaking murder you, you freaking pelican!" Caleb growled as he lunged at the boy.

"Jonas, Caleb, Arizona, Chiron wants to see you now." a girl with blonde hair said, appearing behind Arizona.

"Oh, this can't be good." Jonas said, sputtering up water as he coughed, sounding like an old man with bronchitis. Caleb just simply tried to swim away unnoticed.