Chapter 1: Not again.
Camp Half-Blood was beautiful at the beginning of the summer. There were many reasons for it. One, the flowers that the Demeter and Iris cabins had planted the summer before, were now bloomed and bright, giving camp a young and refreshing aura.
Another reason was the clearness of the day. Because of the magical borders, which were reinforced by the golden fleece, it never rained, snowed or got clouded inside camp. Due to this, it was always a nice, warm day inside of the borders. The breeze from the lake and the smell of fresh flowers made camp a perfectly desirable location.
But the main reason that camp currently of the year was beautiful, it was because of the campers. Most campers were only summer campers, the first few days, especially the first day like today, the environment was filled with laughter and joy of friends and brothers reuniting after a long year. Some getting older, some getting fatter and some who desperately needed a haircut, all campers rejoiced the first day of the summer.
It was not different for a certain young woman who entered camp with a smile on her face upon seeing the cheery aura. Annabeth Chase stood on Half-Blood Hill overlooking her summer home.
'How it has changed' she thought. Yes, after the Giant War three years ago, camp had gotten a completely new renovation. The cabins were still the same in their Omega shape. Twenty cabins, each of them representing gods, the inner circle of the omega representing the Twelve Olympians and the arms of the Omega Representing some minor gods. But instead of a campfire in the center, there was a statue.
The statue, designed by Annabeth and Leo after his resurrection, represented three main things. The base of the Statue, which was a pillar, had images of the titan war against Kronos. It showed the demigods repelling the forces of Kronos in front of the empire state, it showed a pair of demigods fighting against the Titan King himself in the Olympian Throne Room. It also had engraved the names of every demigod who had fallen in the battle, ally or foe.
The second part was the statue itself. A large image of "the Seven" in pure, white, Olympian Marble. Leo, Hazel, and Piper stood at the bottom, each branding their weapon of choice. Leo his hammer, Hazel her Spatha and Piper Katoptris. Then, Frank and Annabeth with their own weapons overlooking the camp. Annabeth with her Drakon Bone Sword, and Frank with his Bow and his arrows. Finally the two heroes. Perseus Jackson, Son of Poseidon and Jason Grace, son of Jupiter, both boys, back to back, sword raised and prepared to defend from whoever dared to attack their home.
Annabeth looked at the statue, slight pain in her heart at the image of the Seaweed brain. Then her eyes fixed upon the third part. An object that was not in the original plan, but that brought pain on Annabeth's soul.
"Riptide." Said a voice. Annabeth turned and faced Sebastian, the current counselor of the Apollo cabin. Will had decided to step down to spend more time with Nico, so Sebastian had come. "It's like our own version of the tale of King Arthur. Whoever lifts thy sword shall gain the crown of thy land"." He mocked. Sebastian was blonde, like his siblings, with bright blue eyes and a slight tan to his muscled skin. Sebastian was her friend, best friend in fact. Her boyfriend for a year and a half.
Annabeth giggled.
"Well, I guess it kind of is. Since he left, no one has been able to take it out." Annabeth said, a little sadness in her voice. It had been three years since Percy left. Three years since their breakup. When he left, he drove his sword in the heart of the statue and vanished. Everyone had tried to take it out, but no one could. Chiron suspected that it was Poseidon himself who had locked the sword, as a favor to Percy.
"We should go. Let's go leave your stuff in your cabin, then we need to go to the Big House, all the other counselors are here. Apparently, Chiron has an announcement to make." Sebastian said. Annabeth nodded, kissed him in the cheek, and followed him.
- Line Break –
Annabeth walked to the Big House. After saying hellos and greetings to her siblings, she decided to take a short stroll through the Pezodrómio. A new part of Camp, the walkway from the Omega to the big house. It had a sidewalk to the gardens, another to the new dining hall, and another to the portal. The Hecate, Hypnos and Iris cabin had outdone themselves to create a portal that could join Camp Jupiter and Camp Half Blood. When used, someone was put into a trance and transported through a rainbow to the other side. It was by far one of the best features the improved camp had.
Annabeth entered the big house to find almost everyone quietly staring at the argument at hand, the main exception was Jacob, the son of Poseidon and Thalia, who was on a break from the Hunters.
"I told you, barnacle face, this is not something we can handle ourselves!" said Thalia.
"I think you are wrong, Cousin. In the last three years we have fended off Prometheus, Echidna, and Chimera, Krios and Kampe, I see no reason why this should be any different." Jacob said, a slight smug on his voice.
"We? What have you done! Yes, you are naturally powerful, yes, you are skilled with the sword but don't compare yourself with Percy. You, never in your pathetic little life, will ever be a quarter of the warrior Percy was." Thalia said with a glare that could have turned Medusa into stone.
Annabeth's breath hitched in her throat.
"Em…" she said.
"Annabeth? ANNABETH!" Thalia yelled. As she jumped to hug her best friend.
"Hey, Annabeth." Said Jason.
"Wazzup blondie." Joked Leo.
"Annie!" said Piper and Hazel.
"Hi." Said Frank.
Nico, who stood in a corner of the room, merely nodded.
"So, what's happening?" Annabeth asked. "Anything about the Seaw—Percy?" She asked. A little sad that she could no longer call him that. Annabeth felt a hand grabbing hers. She looked down to find Sebastian holding her hand. Annabeth smiled.
"That, my dear, is what we need to talk about." Said a new voice. Old and wise. "It is good to see you are well my dear." Said Chiron.
"Same to you, Chiron," Annabeth said as she took her seat. By now everyone was sitting. Thalia was having an intense staring contest with Jacob. "What is this about?"
The faces in the room immediately changed. Annabeth did not need another sign.
"Oh, fuck no!" She said as she tried to get up.
"Annabeth." Sebastian held her. "Please…" He begged.
"No! I am done with prophecies, enemies, and wars. I want to live my life normally. I am in New Rome attending college and living with my dad every other day. I'm not risking it." She said, sternly.
"If you could please listen to us, then you can take your decision." Said Chiron, Annabeth was skeptical but sat down again.
"What is it this time?" she asked, "a rogue god? Another titan? A giant maybe?"
"Worse," Chiron said. "Aeolus has died."
There was a brief silence before Annabeth spoke.
"What?" she said in a soft voice.
"Aeolus, god of winds, air and father of the four Anemoi has died. Faded, to never return." Chiron said in a pained voice.
"how? He is a god, isn't he? Sure, not the most popular, but still an incredibly powerful god! How could this happen?" Annabeth asked, perplexed at what had happened.
Chiron looked like he was going to say something, but at that moment a purple mist appeared in the center of the table, when it cleared, a dirty, blooded, pudgy man lay there trying to catch his breath.
"D-Dionysus?" Chiron asked.
"Chiron! Thank the fates!" said the old wine god, as he stood up with the help of his son, Pollux.
"what happened?" Chiron asked. The campers did not show any significant emotion to the injured god, but deep down they were terrified. The most scared out of all of them were the demigods who had gone through two wars. They had seen Dionysus as an arrogant man, but still one of the Olympians. But they had never seen a God injured, nor one with such a terror in his face, and that shocked them to the core.
"It is gone," Dionysus said. "Whoever vanished Aeolus, took it. We have been through every corner in Olympus and the world, no sight of it."
"This is bad. This is very, very bad. We might have another war brewing in our hands. One we cannot win." Said Chiron.
"Sorry to interrupt, but what is happening?" asked Piper, from her chair.
The god and the centaur looked surprised, almost if they had forgotten that they had company. Chiron looked at Annabeth and spoke the words she never hoped to hear again.
"seal the doors." He said.
After the giant war, the council room had a small renovation. If the need arose to have a war meeting once again, the doors had a small button that would seal them from interruption from the other campers. It will also send a message to Rachel Elizabeth Dare, the oracle, to get to camp as fast as possible. It would also send a signal to Olympus and camp Jupiter, alerting them, even if they could not interfere. But the worst part of it all is that it meant war.
Annabeth walked to the door and pressed the small red button. Leo and his brothers had created the mechanism and it had not been used once since the war. Even with the attacks from beings like Prometheus.
Annabeth pressed the small red button. The door closed and a small locking sound could be heard. She walked and sat down at her spot.
Chiron spoke again.
"During the first Titan war, when Zeus overthrew Kronos, there were some objects of incredible power. Kronos Scythe, which was Ouranos. Zeus' Master bolt, Poseidon's trident and Hades' helm of darkness. Those were known, but there was another object that was unknown. It was called the Sword of Punishment. They said that it was so sharp it could cut down a mountain in two. Because of this, even a small wound from the sword would cut your soul down so that you would cease to exist…" Chiron said.
"…so, if it hit a god…Oh, my gods…it could vanish one, could it?" Asked Annabeth, who had already figured it out.
Chiron merely nodded.
"That sword has been on the Olympian vault for eons, since the beginning. It had been protected brilliantly since it was sealed there. But someone, somehow, managed to break in, slip past the protections and steal the sword. Someone has that sword, and he, she or it ain't immortal." Dionysus said.
"How do you know it's a mortal?" Asked Jason.
"Simple. An immortal being would have already killed all the gods. Without fear of being vanished, he or she could have entered the throne room and slaughtered all of us before we could say shit. Trust me, it is in mortal hands." The god answered.
There was a silence, a tense and somber silence.
"wait…." Said a voice. "if it's in mortal hands it has to be a demigod, and who has been missing for the last three—" Jacob was cut by Thalia.
"Don't you dare finish that sentence." She said, in a voice that would have made anyone wet their pants.
The color from Jacob's face was lost in a matter of seconds.
"While I do not agree with the way Thalia handles things, she has a point. Perseus could not have possibly orchestrated this." Said another voice.
"Rachel. Good to see you." Chiron greeted the girl who was coming into the room through the tunnel that connected her cave with the big house. It had been another of the many renovations of the camp.
"Hi, Chiron, hi people." She greeted.
"what do you mean Percy could not have done this?" Asked a smug Jacob.
"Because I know where he is, what he is doing, and I know that he is the key to solve this mystery." She said.
"WHAT?!" Yelled almost everyone in the room.
"WE HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR HIM FOR AGES!" Yelled Thalia.
"Bad move, Rachel. Bad move." Said Leo.
"Why Rachel! You have known where he is all this time?" Asked a worried Hazel.
"Calm down people. I only came into contact with him recently. In fact, I swore on the Styx not to tell you where he is." She said.
"So how are we going to solve this? And why do we need him?" Asked Jacob.
Rachel stood still for a second, then green mist surrounded her.
"Darkness comes at the edge of night,
angels and demons together they fight.
The son of darkness bears the weapon,
to tear down castles and burn down meadows.
The lost hero and the deadly brother together they will fight,
or forever be forgotten in a sea of dark light."
Rachel stumbled but she caught herself.
"My, my, what will we do now." She said as she sat down.
"Who is the deadly brother? Nico?" Asked Piper.
Nico just did an 'I don't know' sign with his shoulders.
"Anyway, it is clear that our first step must be contacting with Perseus. Rachel cannot help due to her promise—" Chiron was cut off.
"Actually Chiron, the promise was to never tell you where he was. Not to never show you." A smirk played on her eyes.
Greetings traveler.
This story is a little different from my Avengers/PJO crossover. It takes on darker themes, slightly touching in horror, mystery and suspense. I wanted to try a new writing style and this came out. This chapter is softie, next one is when the darkness comes. If you are more sensible to these themes, you don't need to read it. Go read my Avengers/PJO crossover that many say it's quite good. Hehe.
Either way, this story is dark. It is meant to be dark, as I want the reader to feel tense while reading. Im a bad person.
Have a good one.
See ya!
-CallMeLatino.