AN: So, after posting the Prologue I decided to prowl through the fandom in an attempt to find something worth reading.

I was so utterly disappointed that I can now probably redefine the meaning of the word.

…

Chapter: One
A Fireside Chat

Dreams, as anyone will attest to, are strange things.

Demigod dreams are stranger things. They're prophetic, never tell you what you want to know, randomly happen at the oddest of times and tend to leave you utterly confused.

This wasn't one of those dreams. Where there would usually be Darkness and Despair there was Light and Hope.

It was so strange that I needed a few seconds to actually understand what I was looking at.

I was standing at the entrance to the throne room up on Olympus. Each and every throne was empty, they're occupants elsewhere, but the bonfire in the middle of the room was blazing high and happily. There, sitting right next to the hearth sat a small robed figure with mousy brown hair.

I blinked and began to walk towards the only other occupant in the room. My hand was in my pocket, fingers toying with Riptide's pen form as I occasionally glanced around. I still wasn't sure if this dream was different from the norm – for all I knew, the fire could die in the next instance and finally transform the room into something that I was more familiar with.

Namely: death, destruction, doom and the end of all life as we know it.

I was strangely disappointed when nothing of the like happened. Disappointed and apprehensive. I could deal with normal demigod dreams – honestly, they didn't require you to do anything other than observe and, at a later point, suffer because of them.

And that's what made this dangerous. It was new. It was unsuspected. It was the unknown.

In this world – a world of gods and monsters – you fear the unknown. You fear it a lot more than the normal unknown.

"Hello Percy Jackson." A voice said from right beside me. I blinked, idly realizing that I'd walked all the way to the fire in the center of the room and that, yes, I was standing right next to the little girl. She was smiling at me.

I couldn't help but be reminded of my mother's smile when I saw it.

It made me feel warm, banishing my fears and doubts and replacing them with Happiness and Hope. The sudden change jarred me so badly that I barely managed to quietly say, "Hi." I blinked once, twice, and a third time for good measure before shaking my head and looking at her in confusion.

The young girl just smiled comfortingly at me and gestured for me to sit beside her on her marble bench.

I gladly obliged, dropping onto it and rubbing my face with my left hand. My right was still in my pocket, holding Riptide.

"I'm dreaming, aren't I?" I wondered a few moments later. I already knew the answer but, hey, it never hurts to ask, right?

"Indeed you are." The girl said, picking up a stick and prodding the fire with it. I took the moment to observe her features – the robe was actually a simple black dress, she had a scarf around her neck and her eyes were the same color as the fire that sat in the hearth.

I swear I've seen her before, I just don't know where.

And then it clicked.

"You were the one tending to the camp's hearth on my first day there." I said. She nodded.

"Yes. You did not stop to talk. Not many do." The words were said with a sense of sadness that felt out of place in this room filled with Happiness and Hope.

"Hey, in my defense, I had no idea what was going on and thought my mom was dead." I said, defending myself. "But, if you're there in the future, I'll gladly come over and talk."

I meant it, too. So far, this had been the nicest talk I'd ever had with a god – even if the 'talk' consisted of five or so sentences. And she was a god, there was no doubt about that. I could feel a sense of power radiating from her that I'd only felt a few times before.

Well, that, and we were sitting in Olympus' throne room. Olympus. The City of the Gods.

Yeah.

Her eyes – which had dimmed slightly to a dark red – brightened back to the orange they were before. She sent a smile my way and I felt a warm sensation settle in my gut. No words were exchanged for a little while, we just sat there and enjoyed the warmth and the silence together.

It was during that silence that I finally worked out the identity of the girl beside me. I'd have to thank Annabeth for teaching me about the gods when I saw her again. Knowing her identity wiped away the remaining traces of suspicion and doubt that had worked their way into my brain, allowing me to relax and enjoy the moment for what it was. I released my hold my pen and ran a hand through my hair.

"I'm sorry for not recognizing you earlier, Lady Hestia." I said, turning to the goddess with a smile and a slight bow of my head. "I am – as a friend says – a little slow on the uptake."

She laughed at that – well, giggled, actually. She was currently eight or so – I didn't question it. After a moment she settled down and smiled at me. "Do you know why you are here?"

"Uh, what do you mean?" I wondered.

"Why you're here on Olympus."

I thought about that. Why am I here? I mean, yeah, this conversation is pleasant, but for what reason am I here? Demigod dreams pull you out of your body to give you glimpses of things that concern you – like that dream I'd had in the Summer, the one about Grover being captured – but this one was different. Normal Demigod dreams have horrible detail: some colors are off, writing generally looks like squiggles and they're almost always really, really dark.

This… Well, it wasn't any of those. I could clearly see the lines in the stone, see the sparks flicker into the air and feel the heat radiating from the fire.

I ran my fingers through my hair and shook my head. "No clue."

She nodded her head and pointed towards the fire with her stick. "Watch," She said. I did, turning my head and looking into the flames in confusion.

I jolted in shock when I saw myself in them. There I was, standing in the flames – made of flames that were so hot that they were a bright white. I stood there, concentrating on a small red spark that was forming in my palms, a look of concentration on my flamey-face. "Whoa," I muttered, feeling a bit of awe at the sight. Could I manage to do that with fire at some point? Or was it something that only Hestia could do?

"What am I watching for?" I asked, not looking away from the image. From the corner of my eye I saw her shake her head silently, pointing her stick again as if to say "Just watch."

So I did. It was only after the flame had jumped higher – after I'd channeled my emotions into it – that I saw what Hestia wanted me to see.

Namely, the image of her looking back at me from the little fireball. The image ended as flame-me collapsed to the ground, its body losing form and returning back to a happy orange color. I turned to look at the small goddess.

My attempt at asking "How" came out as a small squeak of confusion. I blinked once, snapped my jaw shut and shook my head.

I tried to focus – tried to puzzle out the why, and the how, and the who, what, where, when, and huh – but I only drew a blank, still staring at the Goddess in absolute confusion.

Hestia, thankfully, caught onto the fact that had stopped running and decided to help out.

"Do you remember what emotions you used to fuel the flames?" She questioned. I nodded, my brain rebooting. Happiness was one of them. Joy, pride and amusement were the others – they were the emotions I'd felt after I finally managed to conjure even a slight bit of flame. The goddess smiled at me again and a warm feeling settled in my gut. It was a smile filled with pride. Hestia was proud of me.

For what reason, I didn't know.

"The fire you created was close to my own, Percy." She said, pointing towards the hearth. I looked at the flames and saw… fire. I tried to see what she meant, I really did, but there was nothing to see. Just fire. Fire that made me feel happy, yes, but fire nonetheless –

I smacked myself.

The flames in the hearth conveyed many of the same emotions that mine had. That's what she meant. Happiness, pride, joy, and amusement all radiated from it warmly. But this fire – Hestia's fire – also radiated love, kindness, protection and hope.

I shook my head slowly in disbelief. "The first thing I did with the Mist –"

"Touched my domain, yes." Hestia cut me off.

A gods Domain was what their powers were derived from. My father's domain was the sea. Zeus's domain was the heavens.

Hestia's was the hearth.

I rubbed my face, confused about… everything, really.

"Sorry," I said. From the corner of my eye I could see Hestia tilt her head slightly.

"Whatever for?"

"For intruding on your domain?" My words came out as a question rather than a statement.

"You didn't intrude," She said, sending me another warm smile. "I'm actually quite amazed and pleased that you accomplished what you did."

I closed my eyes and thought about that. I could understand the amazement – because really, a son of the sea god using fire? Anyone who hadn't seen me do so would cry "Bullshit!" in an instant.

But, being pleased…?

"Yeah," I said. "You've lost me."

She smiled another smile and my body relaxed without my permission.

"The fire that makes up the hearth hasn't been used by anyone other than myself for a long time." She explained, gazing into the fire. "Long ago, when we lived alongside the people, hearths were commonplace and my flames were often used. Now, in the modern day…" She trailed off, looking away from the fire and meeting my eyes. It didn't take a genius to figure out the problem.

A gods had power due to their domain. That said, they were also empowered by the usage of said domain. My father gained more power when people interacted with the sea, just as Zeus did whenever someone flew or even so much as breathed.

But, for a goddess like Hestia whose domain was used only by herself…

"You're weaker now, aren't you?" I asked, getting straight to the heart of the matter. Hestia nodded. "How badly?"

She smiled. "Not by much. The hearths flames may not see much use, but being the goddess of the Family and the Home offsets that. Also, I was the first born child of my siblings, and that does come with some perks."

"But you're still weaker than you used to be." She'd already answered the question, but I felt the need to ask it again.

She didn't bother responding, choosing instead to prod at the fire.

"Do you mind if I use them, then?" I asked, before elaborating. "The hearths flame."

She didn't look away from the fire. For a moment, I thought she hadn't heard me – but then she looked at me and I froze. The warm, caring look that had been in her eyes moments before had been replaced by a cold, calculating edge. Her stare was so unsettling that I felt like she was looking directly at my soul – hell, she might have actually been doing so.

Some part of me – the part that made horrible jokes – said "she can't see me if I don't move." Sadly, Hestia wasn't a dinosaur and I couldn't help but fidget in my seat.

Finally, after I'd gotten suitably uncomfortable and a long period of silence, she smiled and warmth bled back into her eyes.

"Okay." She said. "As long as they are not used for fighting."

I swallowed a lump that had formed in my throat. "Thanks?"

She nodded. "You're welcome."

Okay, mental note: Hestia can be scary. On another note: why are the nice ones always the scariest?

So, ever so terrified and distinctly uncomfortable, I glanced around the room, looking for something to talk about.

"So," I blurted out accidentally, pausing as my brain clawed around for something to say. It took a moment, but I managed to find something relevant. "When do I wake up?"

She smiled knowingly at me and nodded towards the fire. Confused and slightly wary, I turned to look at it.

My eyes barely had time to widen as the flames roared out of the hearth and swallowed me whole.

…

AN: This seemed like a good place to stop it, so I kept it short. Next chapter picks up the pace and finally delves into The Titan's Curse.

Addendum: Fixed a few things in the Prologue.