A/N: I own nothing

Leo

"Where do you come from?" Piper's charmspeak was super cool, and yet super creepy. Leo could hear the power in it and he felt like telling her his life story. The ones she was trying to use it on though...

"Someplace complicated." The dark haired teen, Tobias or whatever his name was, responded boredly. He and his two really beautiful friends (were they maybe daughters of Aphrodite?) were all sitting on the deck with their hands tied. They also had been relived of their weapons, namely the sword that wasn't made of Celestial bronze and the surprisingly well made dagger. Leo was itching to examine the black sheath and find out what it was made of, but that would have to wait.

Piper looked irritated and repeated the question with yet more power. "Where do you come from?"

It had taken a while, but everyone excluding Jason was on deck to see what would come from this questioning. Coach Hedge was tapping his club against his leg threateningly, looking ready to smack someone upside the head. If Leo had to guess, he was irritated with getting taken down so quickly earlier. Annabeth was resting her hand on her dagger, looking relaxed but he could feel the gears in her head turning. Frank was shifting uncomfortably, Percy was clenching his pen, and Leo was watching the weapons while wanting to try and steer the ship.

The dark skinned girl named Yahan looked like she was about to speak, eyes glazed over. Everyone leaned forwards in anticipation before her eyes suddenly cleared again. She smirked.

"Somewhere complicated."

Piper threw up her hands. "What gives!? They keep throwing off my charmspeak like its nothing no matter how much I power I use."

Tobias sighed. "Let me give you a hint. Coach, do you happen to smell anything unusual?"

"Watch it cupcake!" The satyr leaned forwards to shout directly into his face. "Or I'll..." He stopped shouting, which got everyone's attention. The coach never stopped mid-shout. And he started sniffing the teen before shifting to the girls. "What in Hades?" His tone was confused.

"Coach. What is it?" Percy asked.

"They don't smell like demigods. He smells like a human," He pointed at Tobias. "mixed with something I've never smelled before, and those two smell different but it's still nothing I've ever smelled before. But the weird thing is that I also smell..." He took a deep breath through his nose. "Two empathy links, connecting those two with him."

Everyone was stunned while the two captive girls sent a questioning look at Tobias. Seeing them, he apparently elaborated. "Something similiar to our bonds, but not quite the same. It's less personal and permanent." They nodded in understanding. "Now, down to business."

There were three snaps as the thick rope around their wrists suddenly broke, making everyone tense and prepare their weapons. Leo's hands burst into flames, but aside from a slight pins and needles sensation, he didn't feel anything as their captives stood up, rubbing their wrists.

"You have some good power Piper, using charmspeak to overpower somebody's will to make them do what you want. The problem with us is our bond let's us reinforce the others will so you can't make us do what you want. Plus you're using it all wrong." Tobias explained before looking at Leo. "And we'll get rid of those." His eyes focused on the mechanics hands. The air around his hands suddenly felt colder while his flames went out. No matter how hard he tried, they wouldn't come back.

Percy uncapped his sword and pointed at it at Tobias. "Stop playing games and tell us who you are."

"How about this?" Tobias pushed the sword away his throat with his finger. "We're going to need to land in about three minutes and with the oars out of place it's not going to be pretty. So, let's land, get Hazel here, then we'll talk about why we're here once everyone is together."

"Uh, he's right guys. With the port side oars out of place and the hull damaged landing isn't going to be pretty. I really, really need to man the controls now if we're going to land in one piece." Leo spoke up for he first time. If he didn't start the descent, they'd lose time making repairs and running from the Romans. Even if the Argo II was capable of traveling long distances, he doubted the Romans didn't have similiar methods of traveling quickly. And they seemed really anxious to get some revenge.

Everyone looked at Percy since he was the one with the most experience here. Hesitating for a second, he sighed. "Leo, get this boat down. We'll head below deck with these three."

"Actually I'd prefer if we stay up here. Me and Kazehana might be able to help land this." Tobias didn't say it like it was a suggestion. "Oh, and I'll take that back too please." He held out an hand towards Leo, looking at the sword and dagger he held.

"Not an option. You can stay on deck, but you don't get your weapons back." Percy said firmly, eyes narrowed. Tobias turned to look at him, silver eyes meeting sea green in a unyielding stalemate. After a few seconds Tobias shrugged.

"Fine. Let's call this a show of faith then, that we don't mean any harm."

Percy took the weapons while he and the others headed below deck, save for Leo, Coach Hedge, and the three unknowns. Leo was attempting to land the ship in the lake while the coach was the front, waving his club and shouting, "YEAH! Bring it on lake!" Tobias and Kazehana were both sitting on the ground with their eyes closed for some reason, legs crossed and hands on their knees. Yahan was looking over the side in interest at the incoming body of water.

Festus was whirring and clicking warning signals over the intercom so it was heard all over the ship.

"I know, I know," Leo said through gritted teeth while trying to keep them steady. Due to his concentration he didn't have time to take in the scenery. There was a city to the southeast that was nestled into the foothills of a mountain range that was blue and purple in the afternoon shadows. There also was a flat desert landscape to the south, and the Great Salt Lake below them glittered like liquid diamonds. The shoreline was etched with white salt marshes that reminded Leo of photos of Mars surface.

"Hang on Coach, this is going to hurt!" Leo warned.

"I was born for hurt!"

Two seconds from impact, both Tobias and Kazehana's eyes snapped open.

"Now!" Both slammed their hands on the deck at Tobias's shout. Leo was thrown forwards and the coach almost went overboard as the ship suddenly stopped in mid-air, hovering above the water for a second. It then lowered and set down gently in the water. "Well that was easy. You ok?" Tobias asked and Kazehana nodded, neither looking like they were tired from somehow stopping a warship from crashing into a lake.

"Uh, Festus take us to the south shore please." Leo asked, not entirely sure what had happened but he had learned to go with things since learning he was a demigod. The oars dipped into the water and pushed them forwards at a decent speed.

"Why did you do that? That would've been awesome!" The coach demanded angrily.

"Because it would've damaged the ship even more, so this was better in the long term." Tobias answered, standing up while also helping up Kazehana. Leo rang the bell to signal it was all clear and headed towards the stairs. Before he got there he heard thump-thump-thump, each repatition shaking the hull. A tan stallion appeared on deck with one Hazel Levesque on his back.

"How-?" The question died in Leo's throat. "We're in the middle of a lake! Can that thing fly?"

The horse whined angrily.

"Arion can't fly," Hazel said. "But..."

"He can run fast enough that he goes across water, vertical surfaces, or small mountians. Nothing bothers him."

Hazel snapped her head around while Arion reared and neighed in surprise. Tobias was walking until he was in front of the magical horse, looking in its eyes curiously while the horse looked back.

"Who are you?" Hazel demanded while drawing her calvary sword.

"Tobias Song. And these are my companions Yahan and Kazehana," he gestured at both girls. Hazel blushed fiercely when she noticed how Kazehana was dressed. "It's a pleasure to meet you Hazel Levesque, daughter of Pluto." Tobias finished with a respectful bow of his head.

Hazel looked like she had been slapped while Arion shook his mane and snorted.

Coach Hedge approached the group with a suspicious look on his face, club at the ready. "Valdez, does this count as an invasion?"

"No! Um, Hazel you had better come with me. There's a stable below deck if Arion wants to-"

"Arion is a free spirit, he doesn't like enclosed spaces." Tobias interrupted as Hazel opened her mouth. She looked shocked again as he kept speaking. "He'll probably graze until Hazel calls him. But I know she has questions like the others so let's go meet them and I'll explain where we came from." He stopped for a second to look at Arion again and the horse stared back with a challenging gleam in his eye. Tobias bowed his head again, holding still as Arion sniffed him. Snorting and shaking his head, he took a step back as Hazel dismounted, keeping an eye on the two before the horse turned and galloped over the side of the ship, vanishing in a burst of water.

Tobias nodded his head, apparently satisfied before looking at Leo. "Lead the way Leo."


"So, questions. I know you all have them." Tobais said across from the table. He was sitting with Yahan on his right and Kazehana on his left, all on one side of the long table. The others were sitting on the other side, all of them tense. Piper was excluded since she had chosen to stay with Jason in his room.

"How do you know our names? That'll be a start." Percy asked.

"I know all of you. Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon and savior of Olympus. Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena and one of the cleverest demigods of the ages. Hazel Levesque, daughter of Pluto. Frank Zhang, son of Mars. Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus. Jason Grace, son of Jupiter. Piper McLean, daughter of Aphrodite. All part of the Prophecy of Seven to stop Gaea from destroying Western Civilization as we know it." Tobias listed off effortlessly. "I know everything about you."

"You didn't answer my question." Percy said steadily. Leo had to hand to the guy, he had an excellent poker face. He couldn't tell if he was unsettled as Leo, but he was pretty freaked out by how this guy had just listed them off like items on a shopping list while mentioning their mission and the Great Prophecy.

Tobias smiled slightly. "You're right, I didn't. Then to answer your question, I made sure to learn as much as I could before coming here."

"Why did you come here?"

Tobias laced his fingers together and set his chin on top of them. "I'm here to help you right Gaea and her Giants."

Silence. Leo didn't know how things had gone so quite so fast but they had, leaving everyone present staring at the teen before someone spoke up.

"I think you might've broken them." The purple haired woman Kazehana said, smirking in amusement. Leo still didn't get that, he had seen a lot of weird things since entering the world of gods and monsters and what not, but hair of that color was not one of those things.

"Coach, didn't you say they were mortal?" Percy directed the question to the satyr.

"I said he was part human'" Hedge nodded at Tobias. "But the smell those three are giving off is as least as strong as a child of the Big Three." Another stretch of silence from the demigods as they tried to digest this new piece of shocking information.

"Big Three?" Yahan looked at Tobias.

"The three eldest sons of the Titan Kronos. Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. Or if you prefer roman, Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto. Demigod children of those three are the strongest."

"How do you know so much about?" Annabeth demanded angrily.

He shrugged his shoulders. "Knowledge is power. You of all people should know that Annabeth, and I have a lot of knowledge at my disposal."

"How much?"

"Enough." Tobias then lifted his arms and stretched them above his head, groaning in satisfaction as they popped back into place. "How about this? The ship needs repair so we can get moving again, so let's repair first and then I'll answer more questions once we're sure the Romans aren't going to be dropping in unannounced."

Once again all eyes turned to Percy, who was silent. Leo guessed he was weighing the pros and cons of letting the questioning stop now. If they didn't stop now, they'd lose time repairing and might be caught by the Romans, but they'd learn more about their arrivals.

"One condition. None of you get your weapons back until Annabeth says so, plus you swear on the River Styx that none of you will work against us."

A quick glance at the girls and getting a nod in response, Tobias nodded. "We swear, and we swear to help you repair the ship as well." A rumble of thunder sealed the oath. Everyone relaxed a bit before Percy looked at Leo.

"So, what do we need to repair the ship?"

Leo spared a glance at Tobias but he simply stayed silent, looking expectant. "The easiest thing is tar. We can get that in the city, at a roofing-supply store or something like that. We also need Celestial bronze and lime, both of we can find on a island in the lake, just of here."

"We'll need to be fast." Hazel warned. "If I know Octavian, he's searching for us with his auguries and the Romans will be sending a strike force after us. It's a matter of honor."

Leo felt eyes on him. "Guys... I don't know what happened. Honestly, I-"

Annabeth interrupted by raising her hand. "It's fine Leo. We agree it wasn't you. That cold feeling you mentioned, I felt it too. It must've been magic of some sort, either Gaea or Octavian or one of her minions. But until we understand what happened..."

"It won't." Everyone stopped to look at, yet again, Tobias. He looked certain. "The first time it happened it was clear that Leo wasn't himself, right? If it's that easy to tell they've been possessed or whatever happened, it'll be even easier now that you know what to look for." Leo had to hand it to the guy, he knew how to sound reasonable and yet calming at the same time. He certainly felt better.

"Maybe we should use the buddy system, pair up. Coach and Piper can stay here with Jason while two teams get what we need, one for the tar the other for the bronze and lime."

"Splitting up sounds like a really bad idea." Percy said.

"But it'll be quicker. And there's a reason quests are limited to three demigods each, right?" Hazel threw in her own two cents. Annabeth raised an eyebrow, like she was rethinking Hazel's merits.

"You're right. That's why we needed the Argo II, outside of the camps seven demigods attract way too much monster attention. The ships designed to conceal and protect us on board bit if we have to leave it's better to be in small groups. Otherwise we alert Gaea's minions more then we have to."

Percy still didn't look happy but he took her hand. "I'm good if you're my buddy."

Hazel smiled. "Frank, can you fly them into town as a dragon to get the tar?"

He looked like he wanted to protest but said, "I...I guess. But what about you?"

"I can ride Arion with Sa-Leo to get the bronze and lime." She fiddled with her sword hilt, which made Leo uneasy and notice off hand she had more nervous energy than he did. "We can all meet back here by dark."

"I'll come with." Tobias volunteered. "The bronze is going to be heavy, the more hands he better right?"

Hazel hesitated slightly. "Arion can't carry three people."

"Four actually." Yahan smirked. "And he won't need to, we can get there on our own."

Leo remembered how the girl in front of him had sunk into the ground before raising out of Annabeth's shadow earlier like some dark skinned vampire. Considering that, he guessed that she got around pretty easy.

"Four people..." Annabeth started speaking up.

"It's four people, but only two demigods. I doubt monsters will notice us or even care if they do. Plus we're stronger than we look." Tobias cut her off. The two had a staredown that almost made Leo believe sparks were going to pop out of thin air from the intensity. Annabeth scowled but looked away first. Smirking slightly, Tobias asked, "Leo, how long to repair the ship?"

"With luck, a few hours"

"Well, let's get going then."


Riding Arion was easily the best thing Leo had done all day, but considering how much his day had sucked, that wasn't saying much. The hooves of the stallion turned the water surface to salty mist and, when he put his hand to the horses side, he could feel the muscles working like a well-oiled and high speed machine. Now he understood why car engines were measured in horsepower.

The island Festus had pointed out to him was a line of bright white sand, so white it looked like pure table salt. Behind that was a large expanse of grassy dunes and worn down boulders. They had left the ship with Hazel riding in front and him behind, one hand around her waist. When Hazel had asked Tobias and Yahan how they were going to follow, all she had gotten in response was a cryptic smile.

Percy had also pulled Leo aside before they had split up and told him Hazel's story in a somehow friendly/threatening manner. Now he knew she was a daughter of Pluto that had died in the 1940's and had only been alive again for a few months, which was hard to believe. Hazel was warm and kind and very much alive, which was really different from the ghosts and reborn mortals Leo had fought with before. Plus she was more social than he was.

Arion arrived on the beach before stopping quickly. He pawed at the ground before he whinnied in triumph. The two demigods dismounted as the horse snorted and shook his mane.

"He needs to eat," Hazel explained. "He likes gold but..."

"Gold?" Leo interrupted.

"He'll settle for grass. Thank you for the ride Arion. I'll call you later, in the meantime why don't you go graze."

The words had barely left her mouth before the horse was nothing more then a steaming trail across the lake.

Leo whistled. Now that he was seeing it instead of experiencing it, he could appreciate the speed even more. "Fast horse, and expensive to feed."

"Not really, gold is easy for me." Hazel shrugged.

Leo lifted an eyebrow. "How is gold easy? Please tell me you aren't related to King Midas, I don't have good experiences with him."

Hazel pursed her lips, apparently regretting that she had raised the subject. "Never mind. But how are the other two going to get here without..."

"We're already here."

Hazel jumped and whirled around just in time for Yahan and Tobias to lift out of her shadow like they were on a elevator. Leo also noticed they were holding hands but neither seemed too bothered by it. Actually they looked a bit disappointed when they dropped them.

Hazel was doing a pretty good imitation of a fish, mouth opening and closing before she spoke. "How did you..."

"That's my ability." Yahan lifted a hand with a smile and closed eyes, looking pleased. "I'm able to use shadows to teleport from one place to another, as long as I know where I'm going." She shrugged. "It comes in handy sometimes."

"Yes it does." Tobias chuckled before looking at Leo. "So, lime."

"Uh, right." Leo knelt down and stopped up a handful of sand, looking it over. "Well that's one problem solved. This is lime."

"The whole beach?" Hazel frowned, but she spared a glance at the other two as they started looking around the grassy hills.

"Yeah. See how the granules are perfectly round? It's not really sand, it's calcium carbonate. Or to use the regular name, lime." Leo pulled a Ziploc bag from his toolbelt then dug his hand into the lime. He froze suddenly, feeling some kind of feeling paralyze him. He remembered how Gaea would appear to him- a sleeping face that would swirl with dust or sand or dirt as she taunted him. He imagined her closed eyes and dreaming smile forming in front of him, white and grainy.

Walk away, little hero, Gaea whispered. Without you, the ship cannot be fixed.

"Leo, are you ok?" Hazel asked.

He took a shaky breath. Dirt Face wasn't here, he was just freaking himself out.

"Yeah, I'm ok. Just thinking too much." Leo pulled out his handful of lime and dumped it into the bag. Hazel knelt next to him as he started filling it.

"We should've brought a bucket and shovels."

Leo smiled, the idea cheering him up. "We could've made a sand castle."

"You mean a lime castle."

Their eyes locked for a second too long until Hazel looked away. "You are so much like-"

"Sammy?"

She fell backwards. "You know?"

"Frank asked me if I was sure that wasn't my name but I don't know anyone named Sammy."

"You don't have a twin brother or..." She stopped. "Is your family from New Orleans?"

"Nah, Houston. Why, is Sammy a guy you used to know?"

"I...it's nothing. You just look a lot like him."

They filled the bag together quietly while Leo mulled over what Hazel had said. If she was from the past then did that mean Sammy was someone from the 1940's? Then how could Frank know him, and why did Hazel think he was Sammy all this time later?

They finished filling the bag and Leo put it into his tool belt where it vanished. No weight, mass, volume, but ready to be brought out at a moments notice. One of the many handy features that made his toolbelt the greatest thing ever, plus it could hold anything that fit into the pockets. Too bad it couldn't hold a bazooka or something similar.

He stood up and scanned the beach. Bleach white dunes, roiling blankets of grass, and boulders crusted with salt like frosting. He also noticed they're friends had apparently vanished.

"Where did the others..."

"Hey guys." That question was answered when the two lifted out of his shadow this time, but now they both looked angry for some reason. "We found something that way." Tobias pointed into the trees.

"But we need to find the bronze..."

"That way and about five hundred yards inland." Hazel answered, also pointing the same way. Leo looked at her and she blushed slightly in embarrassment. "Precious metals. It's a Pluto thing."

Well, that would explain how gold was easy. "Neat. Lead the way Miss Metal Detector."


The sun started setting as they walked, turning the sky a blizzard and amazing mix of purple and yellow. In another reality, he'd enjoy walking with a pretty girl on the beach, but they were also accompanied by two upset looking teens and he was feeling edgier as time went on. Hazel turned inland and kept leading the way.

"We're close." Tobias and Hazel said at the same time. She looked at the dark haired teen in surprise. "You can feel it?"

"No, but knowing the bronze is close is good to know. No, what we found is right over this dune." He said, his face hardening while Yahan scowled.

They crested it to spot what they found earlier. A woman, sitting on a boulder in the middle of a grassy field. There was a black and chrome motorcycle was parked close by but both wheels had a large pie slice missing so they resembled two Pac-Mans. Leo very much doubted the bike was drivable like that.

The woman herself had her head down so her face wasn't seeable, but she had black curly hair and a bony frame. Her clothes consisted of black leather bikers pants, tall leather boots, and a blooded leather jacket. Something like a Michael Jackson joins the Hell's Angels look. She had broken shells littering the ground around her feet. Was she shucking oysters? Leo didn't think there were oysters in the Great Salt Lake but she kept pulling more of whatever she was shucking from a sack next to her and cracking them open.

He didn't want to approach her. His experiences with strange ladies weren't exactly the best. His old babysitter Tìa Callida had turned out to be Hera, and she had had a nasty habit of putting him down for nap a in a blazing fireplace. Gaea had killed his mother in a workshop fire when he was eight, and let's not forget the snow goddess Khione, who had attempted to turn him into a frozen dairy treat in Sonoma. Plus he noticed Tobias and Yahan's faces turn darker at the sight of her. But they all went forwards so he had no choice but to follow.

Leo noticed more disturbing details as they got closer. A curled whip attached to the woman's belt. A subtle design on her jacket which showed he twisted branches of an apple tree, populated with skeletal birds. And the oysters she was shucking were, weirdly enough, fortune cookies.

The broken ones around her feet were ankle deep. She kept pulling more from her sack, cracking them open and then reading the slips of paper inside. Most she tossed aside, some made mutter unhappily. She would swipe her finger over the paper like she wanted to smudge the ink before magically resealing the cookies and tossing them into a nearby basket.

"What are you doing?" He couldn't stop himself from asking. The woman looked up and his lungs filled so fast they almost burst. "Aunt Rosa?"

That didn't make any sense but she looked exactly like his aunt! The same broad nose with a mole on one side, the sour mouth and hard eyes. But his aunt would never wear clothes like that and as far as he knew, she was still down in Houston. She wouldn't be in the middle of the Great Salt Lake breaking open fortune cookies.

"Is that who you see?" The woman asked. "Interesting. And who do you see, Hazel, dear?

Hazel stepped back looking alarmed. "How did you-? You look like Mrs. Leer, my third grade teacher. I hated you!"

The cackle that escaped the woman's throat sounded happy, like a wicked witch that had cursed somebody. "Excellent. You resented her didn't you? She judged you unfairly?"

"You-she taped my hands to the desk for misbehaving. She called my mother a witch and blamed me for everything I didn't do and...no. She has to be dead. Who are you?"

"I know who she is." Tobias growled out. Leo hadn't noticed but Tobias's hands were clenched tight enough that the knuckles turned white. His fists were shaking and he could almost feel the hate boiling off him. Yahan looked angry but not nearly that angry. "Leo, Hazel. This is Nemesis, the goddess of revenge."

"Very good." The goddess complimented before cracking open another cookie. She wrinkled her nose as she read it out loud. "You will have great fortune when you least expect it. Now that is exactly the sort of nonsense I hate. Someone opens a cookie and suddenly they have a prophecy that they'll be rich! I blame Tyche, always dispensing good luck to those who don't deserve it."

Leo looked down at all the broken cookies. "Uh, you do know those aren't real prophecies right? They're just..."

"Leo." Tobias interrupted him. "Don't bother."

"You see? He understands why I hate this kind of thing." Nemesis flicked a finger across the paper, changing the letters to red. "You will die painfully when you most expect it. There, much better!"

"That's horrible!" Hazel said. "You'd let someone read that and it would come true?"

The sneer that crossed the goddess face looked even more creepy on Aunt Rosa's face. "My dear Hazel, haven't you ever wished horrible things on Mrs. Leer for the way she treated you?"

"That doesn't mean I wanted them to come true!"

"Bah." The goddess revealed the cookie and tossed it into the basket. "Tyche would be Fortuna to you, I suppose, being Roman. Me? I am called..."

"Nemesis in both Greek and Roman. You do not change because revenge is universal." Tobias interrupted. The goddess looked up and examined him in interest.

"I sensed your arrival and the two you brought with you. The only thing I don't know is what it is you two see."

"A Silence." Tobias said simply. Leo didn't know why the guy apparently had such a grudge with quite but the way he had said that, it made like silence was a living thing instead of a situation.

"Karasuba." Yahan said, her hand flexing like she was wishing she had her dagger on her hip.

"Hhmm. Fascinating. You three will be worth watching." She cracked open another cookie.

"Forgive me ma'am, but why are you cracking open fortune cookies in the middle of the Salt Lake instead of doing something else?" Tobias requested politely. Leo would've sworn he had experience in handling gods with how he had asked that question. Respectful yet curious and a bit confused.

"Lucky numbers. That's not even a proper fortune!" She crushed the cookie and scattered the pieces around her feet. "To answer your question Tobias...Song, was it?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Odd name, but I've heard worse. In any case, to answer your question, the gods are in terrible shape. It always happens when a civil war breaks out between the Greeks and Romans. The Olympians are called on by both sides, torn between their two natures. They become quite schizophrenic I'm afraid, what with splitting headaches and disorientation."

"But we're not a war," Leo insisted.

"Um, Leo..." Hazel winced. "You did kind of blow up large sections of New Rome."

"Not on purpose!" Whose side was she on?

"We know that Leo, but the Romans don't. And their pride will force them to pursue us in retaliation."

Nemesis cackled. "Listen to your friend Leo. He knows like I do that war is coming, which Gaea has seen to with your help. And can you guess whom the gods blame for their predicament?"

"Me." Leo's mouth tasted like calcium carbonate.

"No Leo." Tobias shook his head. "I don't mean to sound harsh but you're just a small pawn on the chessboard. They'll blame the being who started this entire game in the first place."

"Quite." Nemesis agreed. "The gods blame Hera for this foolish quest to bring you Greeks and Romans together-or Juno if you prefer! The queen of the heavens has fled Olympus to escape the wrath of her family. Don't expect any more help from your patron."

Leo's head throbbed in time with his heart. His feelings on the queen of gods were mixed. On one hand she had meddled in his life since he was a baby to serve her purpose in this giant prophecy, but she had been on their side, more or less. But if she was out of the picture...

"So why are you here?" He asked.

"To offer my help of course." The goddess grinned wickedly.

He glanced at the others. Hazel looked like she had been offered a free snake, Yahan looked confused, Tobias looked like he had calmed down and like he had caught on to what she was talking about.

"Your help."

"Nemesis is not only the goddess of revenge, but also the goddess of balance Leo." Tobias spoke like he was explaining this to a child. "She enjoys tearing down the proud and powerful that deserve to be teared down."

"And there are none who deserve to be torn down more than Gaea and her giants. But I must warn you that I will not suffer undeserved success. Good luck is a scam and the wheel of fortune is a Ponzi scheme. True success requires sacrifice."

"Sacrifice?" Hazel asked tightly. "I lost my mother. I died and came back from the Underworld. Now my brother is missing. Isn't that enough sacrifice for you?"

Leo could completely relate. He wanted to scream he had lost his mother too. He had lost his gratin Festus, almost killed himself trying to finish ArgoII. Now he had fired on New Rome, most likely started a war and maybe lost the trust of his friends. His life was nothing but a chain reaction of sacrifice and loss.

"Right now," he tried to keep his anger from his voice and under control. "All I want is some Celestial bronze."

"Oh that's easy." Nemesis said carelessly. "It's just over the rise. You'll find it with the sweethearts."

"The what?" Yahan said, confusion clear in her face and tone.

The goddess popped a cookie into her mouth and swelled it, fortune and all. "You'll see. Perhaps they'll teach you a lesson, Hazel Levesque. Most heros cannot change their nature, even when given a second chance at life."

"Forgive ma'am, but I don't believe that." Tobias said firmly. "I did when I was younger but experience has shown me that anyone can change their nature with the right encouragement and help." Nemesis spared him a look again. Leo got the feeling that he kept surprising her with what he said.

"Speaking of your brother Nico," she addressed Hazel again. "You don't have much time. Let's see, it's...June twenty-fifth? Yes, after today, six more days. Then he dies, along with the entire city of Rome."

Hazel's eyes widened. "How...what-?"

"And as for you, child of fire." She looked at Leo. "Your worst hardships are yet to come. You will always be the outsider, the seventh wheel. You will not find a place among your brethren and soon you will face a problem you cannot solve. But I can help you, for a price."

Leo smelled smoke before realizing his left hands fingers were ablaze and Hazel was staring at them in terror. Before he could stuff them into his pocket, Tobias lifted and flicked his right hand, the flames dying as he did. The same cold feeling from before when this had happened accompanied it.

"I like to solve my own problems."

"Very well." Nemesis brushed off her jacket of cookie dust.

"But, um, what sort of price are we talking about?"

"One of her children, by the name of Ethan Nakamura, gave his eye for the ability to make a real difference in the world. Didn't he ma'am?" Tobias asked the goddess who looked surprised for the first time as she examined him.

"Yes, yes he did."

Leo's stomach churned in disgust. "You...want an eye?"

Nemesis got her wits back and looked at him. "In your case, perhaps another sacrifice will do. But it will be just as painful. Here." She handed him a unbroken fortune cookie. "If you need an answer, break this and it will solve your problem."

"What problem?" Leo asked as the hand holding the cookie trembled.

"You will know when the time comes."

"Take the cookie Leo. Just don't use it if you don't want to." Tobias advised as he opened his mouth. It didn't matter anyways, his hand pocketed the cookie in his toolbelt like it had a mind of its own. "Is that all?" He asked Nemesis.

She picked another cookie from her bag and cracked it open. "You will have to reconsider your choices soon. Oh I like this one, no need to change it." She reseated the cookie and tossed it into the basket. "Very few gods will be able to help you on your quest. Most are already incapacitated and it will only grow worse as the confusion grows."

"But there is one thing that might heal the rift." Tobias just seemed to know what to throw in when she paused.

"Ah, that would be sweet. The scales finally balanced and the old wrong avenged at long last."

"I have no idea what you two are talking about." Hazel muttered. "Or why my brother Nico only has six days to life. Or why Rome is going to be destroyed."

"It's all tied together Hazel Levesque." The goddess assured her. "As for my offer Leo Valdez, give it some thought. You're a good child, a good worker. We could do business. But before I go, two things. You should visit the reflecting pool before the light fades, since my poor cursed boy gets quite...agitated when darkness comes." Leo did not like the sound of that.

"And you..." She looked at Tobias who calmly looked back. "I don't know where you and your friends come from, but you've piqued my interest. Yet I sense a purpose for you coming here. Why?"

All eyes went to the teen who simply smiled hands bowed his head. "To balance the scales. I'm sure you of all people can understand that, Lady Nemesis." He said respectfully. The goddess tilted her head.

"Indeed I can. I look forwards to seeing how you will do this, Tobias Song." Her peace said, the goddess picked up her sack and threw it over her shoulder before climbing on her motorcycle. Apparently Leo was wrong and it was drivable despite the wheels because she revved her engine and vanished in a mushroom cloud of black smoke.

Yahan bent down and picked up a crumpled piece of paper that was still there, despite the fact that all the other broken cookies and fortunes had vanished. She read out loud, "you will see yourself reflected, and you will have reason to despair."

"Great." Leo grumbled. "Let's go see what that means.

A/N: And cut. Well, not much to say about this chapter, I'm just getting the ball rolling. So, review and let me know what you think.