Chapter Two: The Prophecy of The Empire

Disclaimer: I do not own anything, except the plot and the two OC's

Chiron was sitting on the porch of the Great House, enjoying a game of pinochle with Mr. D, a raven-haired son of Athena, and a visiting Roman, who was a daughter of Vulcan. The Giant War had been long over, and Camp Half-Blood was enjoying its first relative level of peace since Percy Jackson had stumbled over the hill with Grover in tow.

From a distance, Chiron could see the frizzy red hair of Rachel, the Oracle of Delphi, running up to the porch, with the equally red harpy Ella fluttering around her head. Chiron mentally sighed and tried to ignore them for as long as possible. If both of them were coming this way, then nothing good could have happened, and he wanted to enjoy the rest of this pinochle hand in peace.

Chiron had just laid down his winning hand and claimed the laurel wreath from Mr. D when Rachel finally arrived on the porch. She doubled over for a moment breathing heavily as Ella fluttered around her head.

"Not good. Prophecy not good for harpies. Not good for demigods either. 'Look, I didn't want to be a demigod.' Look: to direct one's gaze toward someone or something or in a specified direction. Left is a direction. So is right. The customer is always right."

Chiron looked up at Ella with a mixture of annoyance and amusement. The bird could be exasperating to get a straight answer from, but he couldn't help but admire such a ravenous hunger for knowledge. It was then that Chiron noticed that Rachel was carrying the scroll that she was using to record what prophecies Ella could remember from the Sibylline Books.

"What is it Rachel?"

"Chiron…I've found…a…disturbing prophecy."

Rachel rolled out the scroll, stopping at the last one. It read,

A group of five half-bloods shall travel to Hades,

Where the Foreign King comes to face his crimes.

The King shall escape with the Priest and the Shade,

And the Son of the Underworld shall pursue them.

They shall find their refuge in the Gates of Death,

But in the end, chance must dictate who prevails.

Chiron sat up straighter in his wheelchair. This was quite a disturbing prophecy.

"Why does this prophecy not rhyme?" asked the son of Athena, Wilbur by name, who was looking over Chiron's shoulder at the lines.

"I do not know. But one thing is clear. This foreign king, whoever he might be, is immensely powerful, if the only thing preventing their failure is chance."

There was silence on the porch.

Suddenly Nico di Angelo ran up to the porch.

"Chiron! I have news. My father wishes me to report to you that a dangerous soul has just arrived in the Underworld. He referred to him as a foreign king."

"What?!" yelled Chiron.

"What?" asked Nico.

"Nico read this," Rachel said.

As Nico read the prophecy, his eyes darkened. He slowly set the scroll down.

"I don't like this. I hate the idea of a soul escaping Death. My father wants me to serve as one of his guards anyway. I'm going to take four demigods with me."

"Who?" asked Wilbur.

"Well, I was hoping you'd be one."

"What?"

"Yeah, you've got a pretty good tactical mind. If we're going to keep the ghost where he is, you're going to be useful."

"I suppose. Is your boyfriend going to be with us?"

Nico blushed.

"Well, yeah, but we might need a healer if he tries to run for it."

Rachel coughed.

"I want to ask Reyna along with me. She has… experience… with ghosts."

The daughter of Vulcan stepped in.

"The praetor is far too busy to go on such a quest."

"Do you really need them both at this point? All you're doing is waiting for a new battle. Sounds to me like it's coming."

"Who's going to fill out your quest?"

Nico thought about it.

"I want to take Lou Ellen. A daughter of Hecate will definitely have some perks."

They all stood up. "I'll Iris-Message the praetor," the daughter of Vulcan said.

"I'll go with you," said Nico, "You'll need a drachma, and me to make the proposal."

"What she doesn't take denarii?"

"She is a Greek goddess."

"Just go!" yelled Mr. D, who had been sitting uncharacteristically quietly, "And do it before I get irritated and turn you both into dolphins!"

A/N: By the way, for those of you who like dorkNico!, I definitely recommend Oh Nico, by ChickWithThePurpleGuitar. This story will sort of merge dorkNico! with angstyNico! At least that's the idea. I'm open to suggestions. There is going to be so much Solangelo it's not even funny. I also plan a bit of Theyna, and I want an Alagaesian to fall in love with one of the OC's. Please give me some reviews, because they're nice things to have.