Author's note: I don't own any of the characters. They all belong to Rick Riordan.

Chapter Two

Eleven Years Later

Percy Jackson walked the halls of Olympus, searching for his cousins. The three had spent the last eleven years growing up together. They had grown close and were very protective of each other. They had been taught by the best fighters and had slain more than their fair share of monsters.

They had also developed abilities that made them crucial to meetings conducted by the fourteen Olympians. Yes, fourteen. When Percy was six, he and his cousins had asked why Hades and Hestia didn't have thrones during the winter solstice. This innocent question had led to a large debate that had ended in Hades and Hestia acquiring permanent thrones on Olympus.

Nico had the ability to discover what the damage of any decision would be. Thalia could look at a problem and see what challenges there would be. Percy's talent lay in finding a seemingly small detail that, if overlooked, could end up becoming a huge problem. These abilities had made them vital to any major decision that was made.

The thirteen-year-old son of Poseidon was now trying to find the twelve-year-old daughter of Zeus and the eleven-year-old son of Hades so that they wouldn't be late to the winter solstice meeting. The three had been told that campers from Camp Half Blood, the training facility for all Greek demigods, would be coming to observe. Percy didn't want to make a bad impression on them and disgrace his father and uncles.

He was passing a secluded garden when he heard two voices laughing and recognized them as belonging to his cousins. He slipped through the archway and found the two sitting next to the small pond, talking and polishing their armor. He shook his head as he approached them and said, "You do realize that we need to go change now or else we'll be late for the solstice."

Nico and Thalia shot each other wide-eyed looks before shooting to their feet and sprinting out of the garden, following on the heels of their older cousin. The minor gods and nature spirits dodged out of the way of the princes and princess as they sprinted towards their rooms.

Reaching their respective doors, they entered and changed into the clothes their fathers had specified. For some random reason, the Olympians had decided to wear chitons to this particular solstice. As a result, the Big Three demigods had to wear them, too.

Minutes after they entered, they exited again looking completely different. Nico wore a knee-length black chiton that was trimmed in gold. Two gold skulls were fastened at the shoulders and the gold cord around his waist was held together by another gold skull. The sandals on his feet were gold and crisscrossed across his foot to halfway up his calves. There was a gold band around his forehead inlaid with onyx, crowning him as Prince of the Underworld. His black hair was straight.

Thalia's chiton was ankle length and midnight blue trimmed in bronze. The bronze fastenings on her shoulders were shaped like lightning bolts, with a bronze eagle on the cord around her waist. Her sandals were also bronze colored and crisscrossed her feet up to her ankles. Her black hair was curly and fell to the middle of her back and a bronze band inlaid with diamonds crowned her as Princess of the Skies.

Percy's chiton was also knee length. His was sea green trimmed in silver. The silver fastenings at his shoulders were tridents and the cord around his waist held a fastening that was a horse and a dolphin intertwined. That particular fastening had been a gift from his brother Triton. His sandals were silver and crisscrossed across his feet and ended just under his knees. His hair was not as curly as Thalia's, but there was a definite messiness in the black locks. His silver band was inlaid with a collection of sapphires and emeralds, crowning him as Prince of the Seas.

The three hurried to the throne room, Thalia holding the hem of her chiton in her hand with her two cousins slowing down a little so as not to leave her behind. They reached the doors to the throne room and took a moment to make sure that they weren't disheveled before pushing open the door and entering the throne room, Thalia and Nico flanking Percy.