Chapter One.

Annabeth rushed up to her mother, her blond curls bouncing.

"Hi Mommy!" She grinned happily.

Athena sighed. She was in the middle of a video-conference meeting with another king. "Another time, darling. I'm in a meeting."

Annabeth's grin faded. "Oh. Okay…" She trudged out of the room, deflated.

Sighing, she flopped on her bed. Her best friend/maid came up to her. "Anything I can help you with?"

"No, but thanks anyways, Piper."

"Sure." Piper said, smiling. "What's wrong?"

"Mommy doesn't play with me anymore."

"I'm sure she's just busy." Piper sat next to little Annabeth. "She'll play soon."

The two smiled at each other, pleased with their friendship.

NINE YEARS LATER

Annabeth's sixteenth birthday just happened to fall on Athena's biggest conference day. Annabeth hoped that she would ditch the meeting for Annabeth. She never had. Annabeth and Athena didn't get along very well.

Annabeth approached the table at breakfast, taking a seat. Piper stood a distance away. Athena's own servant, Nancy, was right next to Athena's chair, ready and waiting for an order. The table was long and large, but at it sat only two people: Annabeth and her mother. Athena was concentrating on filling out a piece of paper in front of her. She read it and re-read it carefully multiple times.

"Hey, Mom."

"Hello, Annabeth."

Annabeth shifted in her seat at the dining table, picking at her food. "So…today's a big day, huh?"

"Yes." Athena didn't look up from her work. "I have a huge conference today. You should know that."

"I do…" Annabeth was a bit confused. Did Athena not remember her own daughter's birthday? "Do you know what else is today?"

"Is this a trick question? Annabeth, you know that I plan nothing on Conference days."

"Not even your own daughter's birthday?!" Annabeth exploded.

Athena looked up. "Happy Birthday." She went back to her work. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to-"

"That's it?! That's it!? Just 'Happy Birthday'?! Do you even remember how old I am? I can't believe you!"

"Annabeth, not everything is about you."

"I've put up with you for sixteen years." Annabeth tried to level her breathing. "I let you do whatever you do for your 'trade meetings'. I leave you alone. I always have. Can't you at least recognize me for one day!?"

"I recognize you. You are the future queen. I've even arranged your marriage!"

"You what!?" Annabeth shouted.

"Yes. You are marrying Prince Luke Castellan of-"

"Prince Luke!?"

"Yes. It is perfect for our economy. You marry him, the kingdoms unite-"

"When, exactly, were you going to tell me this?"

"Today, actually."

"No! I will never marry him! You can't make me!" Annabeth sounded five years old, but she didn't care. She stormed away, ignoring her mother's soothing words behind her.

LINE BREAK

The People's Avenger watched from afar as a guard robbed an innocent child. He shook his head. Even though this sort of thing wasn't supposed to happen, it occurred quite often.

The kid screamed in fear as the guard pulled out a sword. The Avenger decided to take action.

"Stop!" He yelled in his disguised voice. He pulled out his own sword. "Stop, or else!"

"Or else what?" The guard sneered.

"Or else I will strike you down, cutting your chest deeply, and then I will slit your throat. You will suffocate to death. I will drag your dead body to the furnace, burn it, and scatter the ashes in front of the Queen's palace doors. People will attempt to approach the palace, and they will be crushing the miniscule grains of your remains!" The Avenger didn't know what half of the words meant, but that didn't matter. His cousin had given him a few scripts similar to that one, and he read them every time an attacker asked 'or else what?'

The Avenger raised his sword. "So, do you wish to challenge me? Or will you drop the child? I can assure you that my skill matches my word, and I swear, I will carry through with my threat so help me!" Those words were from his cousin, too. The Avenger had a few cousins, and they argued so much over his speeches. He smiled at the memory. That didn't matter; he wore a mask so that his opponents could only see his fierce, sea-green eyes and his all-black clothing.

"I accept your challenge, you village scum." The guard spat, dropping the kid. The kid ran into a nearby house, with a fearful look back at the two.

The Avenger gestured for the guard to make the first move. The guard charged, his green-and-silver uniform flashing.

The guard lunged, thrusting his sword at the Avenger's chest. The Avenger easily blocked. The two swiped, parried, and slashed at each other. The Avenger caught the guard's unprotected leg with his sword, making him howl in pain. He then cut a deep gash into the guard's chest. The guard fell to his knees, clutching his bloody chest in shock. The Avenger grinned.

"Remember me, guard. I am The People's Avenger, and I shall prevail. My people will rise up against the Queen, and she will fall. Nothing will stand against me. Nothing will stop me." The Avenger swiftly cut the guard's throat, and the guard suffocated to death.

Grunting, the Avenger dragged the guard into the nearest fire. After watching the guard's body catch fire and burn, melting into ashes, the Avenger collected the ashes in a tin can from the street.

The Avenger climbed a nearby rooftop, jumping from house to house until he reached the Queen's palace. He spread the ashes around and scribbled a note, sticking it to the door. As an added touch, he threw a rock, breaking another window.

The Avenger scrambled away, preferring to keep one step ahead of the Queen.

A servant rushed out, noticing the note pinned to the door. After he read it, he looked around hurriedly, only finding the darkness of the night.

He took the note to the Queen, who scanned it quickly.

Queen Athena,

Your probably wondering about that ash in front of yur door. Wel, say hello to one of your guards. He was so prideful. Just lik you. Lik him, you to wil fal.

Lov,

The People's Avenger

"Take this note and burn it. Do not show anyone else. And sweep the front doorstep." Queen Athena ordered. "Call in General Octavian. Immediately."

The servant left hurriedly. Only a few minutes later, General Octavian bowed in front of Queen Athena. "You summoned me, My Queen?"

"Yes. We have a problem. The People's Avenger, as he calls himself, is loose in the city. Catch him. Bring him before me. I will execute him publicly."

"It will be done, My Queen." Octavian bowed again, and, grinning maliciously, he left to command his soldiers.

LINE BREAK

12 hours later

Percy got up, changing quickly into his regular clothes. In the closet, a black ninja-like suit hung from a hook. Percy ignored it, pulling on a ratty blue t-shirt and some beat-up cargo shorts. It was a typical villager outfit.

Percy made his way to his favorite place- the restaurant. It was always crowded, but nobody ever touched Percy's table. It was his (and his cousins') table. Everybody knew where they sat, and they knew not to touch certain drunkard's seats, or certain family's tables. Not everybody knew each other well in the village, but people knew where they stood.

Percy joined his three cousins at the table. His youngest cousin, Nico, was a small boy with silky long, dark hair. His dark eyes could stare straight into your soul. Nico used to have a sister, but she was killed years back. Ever since, Nico was distant and disconnected from the world.

Percy's other two cousins were well-known everywhere. Every neighboring kingdom knew about King Zeus's death, and that he left behind two children. Nobody ever found out the names of the future rulers (names of the ruler's family were kept a secret in the palaces to protect them), but everyone was told of their story. They assumed that the two had died in the woods long ago, but they were wrong. The brother-sister duo had come back to the slums of their kingdom in the hopes of rallying the people to create an army against the Queen. So far, they were unsuccessful, but that didn't deter them.

Thalia and Jason looked nothing alike. Thalia had short, spiky black hair that was consistently unruly. Jason kept his perfect, short blond hair nice and straight. Thalia was built like a long-distance runner while Jason looked like a wrestler. Both shared electric blue eyes. However, the people in the slums only owned brown and green eyes. The only person in the area who had blue eyes was King Zeus. If anyone knew about their eyes, they would be suspected, interrogated, and, if dealing with the wrong person, killed. Thalia had gotten a hold of (stolen) two sets of brown colored contacts when she ran away, so she and Jason wore them to be disguised.

Percy's cousins were the only people who knew of his true identity. They always wanted to accompany him on his adventures, but Percy always came up with legitimate reasons why they couldn't go.

"So? How was it?" Nico asked Percy, leaning forward.

"Good. I killed another guard, left the Queen a note." His voice was low.

"Awesome."

"What did the note say?"

"I don't know, somethin about how the guard was prideful, so are you, I'm gonna get you, somethin like that."

"When can I come with you?" Nico whined.

"You're not old enough!"

"I'm fifteen!"

"And I'm seventeen! You could get killed!"

"Oh, come on! I'm not that stupid."

"Sure."

"I still don't see the risk of me going." Thalia complained.

"If they capture you-"

"-which they won't. Ever."

"-then they would see that, obviously, you're the rightful ruler, Zeus's daughter. Same goes for you, Jason."

"I'm not Zeus's daughter!" Jason looked offended.

"I meant that they would know who you are. Eyes aren't everything."

"Come on, Percy! I'm a good fighter! At least let me come with you once." Thalia insisted.

"No."

"I'm totally older than you, too."

"Are not!"

"I'm eighteen."

"And?"

"Percy, do you remember how to count?"

Percy rolled his eyes. "Come on, Thalia. One, three, five, two, four, eight, seven, six, ten, nine, thirteen, twelve, eleven, forty-two, eighteen, seventeen, tweeny,"

"Wait, what? What is tweeny?"

"Not to mention that you skipped, like," Jason counted on his fingers. "twelve numbers!"

"It's not my fault I didn't get a proper education!"

"Well, I would teach you, but you don't let me!"

"I don't have time!"

"Whatever."

"…okay. Maybe."

"What?" Thalia looked at him, confused.

"Maybe you can come."

Thalia, Jason, and Nico grinned at once. "IF! If you can keep quiet, fend for yourself, and get into as much trouble as possible without being caught."

Nico shrugged. "I'm always quiet."

"Please. I can fight better than you!" Thalia rolled her eyes.

Jason smiled. "Trouble is my middle name."

LINE BREAK

Nighttime

The four were dressed completely in black.

"So, what do we do now?" Nico asked in a high-pitched voice to disguise himself.

"Dude, drop the annoying voice. Make it different, but not girly."

"Okay." Nico replied in a gravelly voice. "How's this?"

"Fine." Percy sighed. "Okay. First, we just kinda walk around, looking for trouble. How about we split up. That way, we cover more ground. I can't get everything on my own. If you're in trouble, caw like a bird. And remember. If you get a guard, fight him, kill him. Make a threat and follow through with it. Also, burn him until his body is ash. Collect the ash in a can and spread it around the palace door. Leave a note calling yourself The People's Avenger."

"Wait. You're the People's Avenger."

"So?"

"So, when we need to talk to each other, what are our names gonna be? Like, Avenger 1, Avenger 2, or what?"

"Uh, we can be superheroes. I'm Aquaman." Percy quickly made up an idea.

"Aquaman? That's stupid. I'm Superman!" Jason bragged.

"Nico should be Green Lantern!"

"Um, no."

"Please?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"NO."

"Seriously?"

"NICO SAYS NO!"

"Okay, okay. Find your own name, then."

"…fine. I'll be Green Lantern." Nico kicked at the ground, unable to think up any other superhero.

"Let's make Thalia Hawk!"

"What?"

"He's good with a bow. Like you."

"Fine. But if I find out that he's a stupid guy that-"

"-yes, yes, yes, you're fine, you're fine. Now! Let's get out of here and get to work." Percy clapped his hands together. "I'll see you in the morning."

"See you soon." Nico disappeared, fading into the blackness.

Jason saluted Percy and began to climb on top of a roof.

Thalia spun around, going left. Percy went right.

Percy thought the night would be practically uneventful. Oh, how he was wrong.

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