Disclaimer: I do not own the Percy Jackson and the Olympians or the Heroes of Olympus, all rights belong to uncle Rick an any possible colleagues he may employ or work with.

Author's Note: All authors' notes shall be addressed at the bottom of the page.

Enjoy :)

Prologue

It was a lovely day in Manhattan, the sun was sailing in the sky with the skyscrapers being lit up like the Apollo cabin in the summer. Birds were singing a variety of songs and the streets were busy with midday strollers. Everything was peaceful in the city that never sleeps-

"Hey you little brat, gimme back my wallet!"

-well… almost everything. Outside of a construction site with a cordoned off road, was a thin young boy about fourteen laying on the sidewalk, he had scraggly brown hair and a short figure. Over him stood a bald plump man in his early forties he was quite short and wore a high visibility jacket. He held the wallet which he had just claimed from the boy.

"What do you think you're doin'? Think you can steal my money?" yelled the builder

The boy glared at him with menacing blue eyes and the man recoiled slightly. Despite being taller and bigger then him, the man couldn't quite help but feel a slight sense of fear.

The builder held the boy's gaze and when he gave no reply the builder rammed his foot into the boy's stomach who gasped at the impact and curled into a protective ball. "Maybe that'll teach you not to try and steal people's things. Little runt" He muttered.

Grinning, the builder turned to walk back to the entrance of the site but stopped dead in his tracks when he saw two people standing in front of him. The first, with a glare across her face was a girl about ten with light golden brown hair. She had a fairly rounded slim face which would have been adorable, if she had a kinder expression. A few freckles lined the bridge of her nose but the most distinctive feature of the girl, was her piercing and very unnatural grey eyes. The second of the pair, standing slightly in front of the girl was a very tall and well-built guy in his late teens. He had an extremely intimidating look about him as he stared at the builder, he had an angular jaw and dark ash brown hair.

"Oh look who it is," the builder said, a nervous air about his speech now "Heh, the dynamic duo, here to save the damsel in distress." Gesturing toward the boy on the floor who had blood dripping from the side of his mouth.

The tall guy bent down and whispered something to the girl who nodded and ran past the builder to the boy on the floor.

"So… uh… he's with you then?" the builder asked the teen gingerly as he stood back up slowly, his brown eyes still unwavering from the man. A bead of sweat ran down the builder's neck.

"Yeah." Said the teen coldly.

"He tried to steal my wallet man, I had every right to kick him" said the builder pointing at the boy on the floor, the girl now crouched over him wiping his mouth. He pushed away her hands, still scowling. "Look man-" started the builder but was cut off by advancing teen.

"You had no right to kick him." snapped the teen and the builder backed away, his arm reached out and gripped onto the fence to his right and his back to the boy and girl. "You had every right to be angry however… How much money do you have?" he asked, a scowl etched into his face.

"Umm, like, forty dollars" answered the man a confused look on his face.

"Right and how much do you have now?"

The builder checked the wallet in his hand.

"Twenty six" stated the builder quietly. He rounded on the boy on the sidewalk who was smiling smugly but was stopped by a forceful hand on his shoulder.

The teen moved passed the man and stood over the boy with a stern face. The boy was no longer looking so smug. The teen held out his hand to the boy and without words, he handed the money over reluctantly. The teen glanced at the money and gestured his hand out to the boy again who sighed and handed over the last two dollars.

The teen then turned to the builder "Look, I'm sorry for the trouble we caused. Here's your money back." he handed the money to the builder who accepted it gratefully with an obnoxious glance at the boy. "Let's just pretend this never happened."

The builder turned to the teen who was around eight inches taller than him. "Well I'm glad somebody has some sense, unlike that little run-" He was cut off again by the teen who had grabbed him by the collar and pushed him against the fence.

"Don't push it." Said the teen angrily and he pushed the builder away from him down the street. The man stumbled but regained his balance, he straightened and worriedly glanced back at the trio before stalking away.

"You know we could have called the police" piped the girl as she and the boy stood up.

The teen sighed still watching the man as he turned the corner "I know 'Becca but we don't have a phone" he turned to face her, looking much more calm. "And last time we called the police, that rabid dog showed up and tried to chase us remember?"

"Too well." said the girl with a shudder.

The teen turned to the boy who was trying hard to not to meet the older boy's eyes "Look Shane, if you're going to keep doing this, things are just going to get worse than they already are, We can barely afford rent as it is, I don't want the owner to kick us out for causing trouble."

"Well it's not like you're doing anything to help us. Why didn't you just punch the guy? I bet he would've lost a tooth or two."

The teen rubbed the back of his neck. "If I attacked him we would be a lot worse off right now, and it's not like I didn't want to hit him."

"Well you should really start making better decisions then 'cause that guy deserved it."

"I swear you're so arrogant Shane... If we just attacked everyone who picked on us, then we would be in a heap of trouble, and it's not like we aren't already."

The conversation was getting progressively louder now and the girl looked on in dismay at the two.

"Just shut up! If I'd have never agreed to stay with you, life would be a lot better. I wouldn't have to listen to you all the time, always bossing us around. It's like you think you own us or something, well guess what?" Yelled Shane laughing to himself despite the completely humourless situation. "You don't!" And with that, he turned and stalked down the street in a similar fashion to the builder only a few moments previous.

The teen just stood there speechless, his mouth half open, waiting for a retaliation that would never come.

"We should go after him." The girl called Rebecca stated as Shane disappeared round a corner.

The teen took a deep breath and turned toward her his eyes filled with guilt. "I know, but there never seems like there's anything I can do no matter how much I try."

"Well I think you're doing a great job, Shane just needs time. You wait, he'll be back before you know it."

The teen smiled at her. "Thanks. We should get going, that guy's probably called the police by now." And with that, the two set off down the street.

Shane tore through the streets not caring about passers-by until he ran out of breath and he stopped by a signpost. Panting, he looked back to make sure no one was following him, no… he had taken to many turns for them to know where he was now.

He turned around and strode down the street awhile searching for a place of solitude and he came across an alley. He peered in and couldn't see anyone although it was pretty shaded. He cautiously stepped into the gloomy shelter and listened, gazing into the shadows.

Nothing.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Shane made his way to the brick wall at the end of the alley and sat down with his back against the wall.

'I should never have agreed to live with those two.' he thought to himself 'Maybe I can start a new life on the streets… yeah, then I won't be told what to do by anyone and I can do whatever I like.'

Smiling to himself at the thought of a new life but then frowned when he thought of what had happened with the builder. He didn't think he could risk stealing again, especially if there were worse people than that builder around.

"Hey kid, what's up?" called a voice from above him.

Shane spun around searching for the person who had spoken and on top of the wall he saw a guy who was probably a year older than him, although he looked much older. He had unhealthily pale olive skin and long messy black hair. He wore an aviator jacket with a black t shirt underneath and black trousers.

Although he didn't seem to pose much of a threat Shane didn't quite feel at ease around him, especially with the way the shadows seemed to cling to him.

The two looked at each other for a moment and then Shane turned away. "Why would you care? Go back to… being a vampire or whatever you were doing" He replied.

"Hmph, the one time I actually try to look out for somebody and this is what I get." The vampire boy continued to grumble but Shane didn't quite catch the last few things he said.

They stayed in silence for some time, Shane lent back on the wall and stared off into the entrance of the alley wondering what his friends were doing know, if they were even bothering to look for him.

"Seriously, what's the matter?" The strange vampire dude asked.

"Nothing..." Another moment of silence in which the one atop the wall gave the younger boy a disconcerting look which made Shane feel as though the other guy could read minds.

"Don't bother lying." The pale boy slid down from the brick wall and crouched to face Shane. "Trust me, lies never get you anywhere, so tell me what's made you drag yourself into this place."

Heavily exhaling, Shane then began to describe the events that had recently transpired to a guy who he was not sure he trusted at all…

Hope you enjoyed although I have no idea if it was any good and I apologise if it wasn't. I didn't really know whether this was the right length for a prologue and I have no clue as what the chapter lengths will be or should be.
And don't worry, this story won't completely centre around these three numpties and will in fact involve other characters as you may have already seen. The next chapter will be all Percy.

In any case, any questions or queries that pop into your mind, feel free to ask in a review or PM me if you're feeling brave (don't worry, I don't bite... much).

Thanks for reading,

Have a beautiful day.