I'm getting into Rick Riordan's characters now, so I should probably note that I'm not him. After the incredibly short prologue, I present to you the first chapter. I plan on using multiple viewpoints to tell the story. The next chapter will entirely by from Nicholaos' point of view.
Amber Jackson had been practicing for three hours straight, and she was exhausted. She slumped down in the shade of a tree opened a book. Everyone told her she spent way too much time in the practice arena, but she didn't think so. If she was going to be ready for her quest, she really needed to stay in top form.
And she was going to get a quest. This was her third summer at Camp Half-Blood, and she was really tired of sitting around, not living up to the family name. Her parents, especially her father, were well-known for their heroic feats during their time at Camp Half-Blood. It seemed like everyone was looking at her, wondering when she'd show some signs of greatness. Something that would indicate she was indeed the daughter of Percy and Annabeth Jackson, the legends.
William, her older brother by two years, had already been on his great quest. Last year he was sent on a quest to retrieve the Stone of Olympus, the stone that Kronos had been tricked by Rhea into eating instead of Zeus. It had been stolen from its place of honor in the Olympus trophy room, by a rogue group of demigods. Why they had stolen the stone remained a mystery, but they were assisted by several monsters, so they were obviously working for someone.
But, they had refused to say anything incriminating, and were sent to Tartarus to see if that would loosen their tongues. It was odd that they would steal the stone in the first place. As far as anyone knew, it didn't really have any magical qualities to it. And yet, they had gone through so much trouble to make their getaway with the stone.
However, Amber hadn't really thought about it much. William had returned to a hero's welcome, and had managed to become the talk of camp for something else besides being the son of two famous demigods. She didn't like to admit it, but she was more than a little jealous. It wasn't that she didn't feel happy for him. He was her brother after all. It was just now she had three shadows to stand in.
She threw her book down in frustration. The frustrations tumbling around in her head made reading absolutely impossible right now. Getting up, she began making her way to the seashore when she saw Adrianna and Matthaios making their way to the big house.
The two of them were what the campers always called the "Peace Children". Apparently, around the Amber had been born, the big three, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades had been arguing, as they usually did. Only this time, it had gotten serious. A son of Zeus had been assassinated, and he immediately suspected his brothers.
Of course, Poseidon and Hades were offended by the accusation, and immediately accused the other. This had almost led to a war between the three, but Athena had come up with an idea sufficient enough to please the three of them. As a peace offering, each of the three would give up their most powerful child to one of the others, and war would be averted. Zeus' son had gone to Hades, Adrianna (the daughter of Hades) had gone to Poseidon's kingdom, and Matthaios (the son of Poseidon) had gone to Olympus.
Amber's first year at Camp Half-Blood, the two of them had been allowed by Zeus and Poseidon to attend the camp. Everyone treated the two of them with immense respect, and generally tended to avoid them. It was no secret that they were incredibly powerful, and most people were intimidated. But, Amber had grown up in a house with a child of the big three as a father, and she didn't become intimidated too easily. She had made fast friends with them, bonding over the fact that everyone seemed to have overblown expectations of them.
"Hey guys," She called, "what's up?"
They both smiled as they turned around to look at her. Most girls at the camp thought he was incredibly cute, but he was technically her uncle, so she had never looked at him that way. He looked similar to her father, with his sea green eyes (which matched her own as well) and jet black hair. He was tall, but not as tall as Adrianna.
Adrianna had long dark hair and dark eyes. She could be pretty when she wanted to be, but as most the boys were intimidated by her, she really never had any need.
Amber herself had honey blond hair and stood about as tall as Matthaios. People constantly told her she looked exactly like her mother, which she guessed was a good thing.
"Just heading to the big house," Adrianna said. "Bernie just told us that we've been summoned."
"Really? Is something happening?"
"Hopefully. This summer was getting pretty boring," Matthaios smiled again. Like her, the two of them were waiting for a quest. For their moment to prove themselves. Something else they had bonded over.
"Well, I'll come, too," Amber said happily, starting toward the big house. If there was something going on, she did not want to miss out.
"Uh, I'm not sure if you can," Adrianna said, unsure.
"Whatever. If they want to stop me, they can," Adrianna motioned for the two to follow him. They rolled their eyes and then joined her. The big house was surprisingly empty, except for Amber's parents and Chiron, and of course, Mr. D.
Oh, Amber thought happily, this has to be big.
"Greetings," Chiron said cheerfully, looking at Amber curiously.
Mr. D. yawned. "I don't recall summoning you, Amanda Jergunson," He said lazily.
"Perhaps she shouldn't hear what we're about to discuss?" Chiron said, looking questioningly at her parents.
"Oh, I think she can handle it," Her dad said, looking at her mom with a smile. She rolled her eyes at him.
"Very well," Chiron said. "Now, as we're all aware, the big three traded their most powerful children in order to avoid a war. Matthaios, Adrianna, you are two of those children. But there was one other. Nicholaos, the son of Zeus, has been living in Hades for the past 13 years. However, three days ago, he escaped."
Amber gasped. This was big.
Chiron continued: "Hades was furious, as he thinks the only way Nicholaos possibly could have escaped was through the help of Zeus. Zeus has denied any assistance on his part, so Hades gave him an ultimatum. Return the boy in a week, or prepare for war."
"Why is Hades making such a big deal about this?" Adrianna asked, clearly annoyed. "Matthaios and I were allowed to leave our homes and come to camp years ago."
"Yes, but you didn't live in the underworld," Chiron said. "Nicholaos has consumed the food of Hades. Ancient laws, made by Hades himself, proclaim that he is to remain in the underworld forever."
"Okay, so why don't the gods just get Nicholaos and send him back?" Amber asked.
"This is a little out of their jurisdiction," Matthaios offered.
"Indeed. The gods are much to busy to worry about rounding up some brat," Dionysus chimed in.
"So, what we need," Chiron began, "is for you two to go find Nicholaos and bring him back here. Perhaps we can persuade him into going back."
Amber noticed he had only said "you two". "I want to go," She said, more to her parents than to Chiron or Mr. D.
"These are children of Poseidon and Hades. I don't think your help will be necessary, Johansson," Mr. D. said rudely.
She looked at her parents pleadingly. Her mother was the one to cave in. "She could use the experience." Amber could have run and hugged her mother right there, but she decided to keep her composure.
Chiron smiled. "Very well."
"Which one of us needs to visit the oracle?" Adrianna asked hopefully.
"Well, this isn't exactly an official quest," Chiron said. "So a prophecy won't really be necessary."
"Then how do we find him?" Matthaios asked unsurely.
In answer, Chiron walked over to the window, where light was shining in, creating a rainbow. He threw a golden Drachma into the rainbow, and an image of a news report appeared.
"Scientists are baffled by the strange weather occurrences here in Black Hills National Forrest. The weather has been behaving erratically, raining one minute and sunny the next." The reported said, clearly baffled herself.