Chapter Two

150 Years Later

Not for the first time, Percy awoke from a terrible vision. In it, he had seen the old god's symbols of power, yet they were not destroyed. When he tried to reach out for them, a cold, lifeless voice echoed around him, "Not yet, little god, not yet. They will be destroyed soon enough," it said with a chuckle.

Percy sighed and shook off the nightmare. It didn't mean anything anymore. There was nothing he could do about the destroyed symbols of power. They were simply gone.

Percy looked around him and realized he was not in his undersea palace like he thought he was. He was in the middle of the throne room. Hmmmm…I must have fallen asleep at my throne. Percy wasn't surprised, today was the winter solstice, when all the gods met at Mount Olympus to discuss the affairs of the world. He liked to think that he and the other new gods had done a good job keeping the world in order, yet there was still so much to be done that it made his head hurt.

When he looked back around the room, he realized that more and more gods and goddesses had arrived while he was pondering his situation. When all had arrived, Jason, the king of the gods, stood up and signaled for silence. "We are gathered here on this winter solstice to discuss the affairs of the world. Therefore, let us begin."

Even the new gods had trouble agreeing on anything. Hours went by, and all that they really succeeded in doing was bickering with each other. That all changed when Annabeth stood up.

"My lord Jason, I have news that I wish to share with the counsel, if they will hear me."

"You may proceed, Lady Annabeth."

"Gods and goddesses of the counsel, I wish to inform you of a troubling vision I have had these past three nights."

"And what would that be?" said Nico, fingering a skull ring on his finger.

"I have had a vision in which I have seen the old gods—our parents—symbols of power, and yet they are not destroyed. I tried reaching out for them, and yet something stopped me. Something ancient, I believe, from when the world was first created. Another thing…this…whatever it was…was threatening to destroy them"

Percy stood up, unable to take it any longer. "I, too, have had this vision. I have ignored it until recently, but now I realize if others are having the same vision then it is more important than I originally thought. We must discuss this now and try to divine its meaning."

Quiet muttering broke out amongst the gods and goddesses. Annabeth approached Percy.

"You have had the same vision?" she asked.

"I have," said Percy.

An awkward silence followed between them. They obviously still had feelings for each other, yet both had been completely consumed by the responsibilities of being gods that neither really had the time for each other. That's when the new demigod children started to appear. Not the children of Poseidon, Athena, Dionysus, Ares, or the rest, but the children of Perseus, Annabeth, Pollux, and Clarisse. It was an uncomfortable subject between Annabeth and Percy, but the other gods and goddesses treated the matter as a normal part of godhood. They had all assumed it was a good thing, because it meant Chiron still had a job and hadn't faded away.

"Silence!" called Jason. "We must discuss this as a group. Now, who has any ideas on what this vision means?"

Silence reigned throughout the throne room. Finally Annabeth spoke up again. "My lord Jason, I was thinking that perhaps we have been deceived."

"How so?"

"Well, maybe the god's old symbols of power were not destroyed, and we were made to think they were. After the war, perhaps they were concealed in a place where the gods could not get to, and that is why they died the way they did. Now, they are being guarded by an ancient enemy of the gods, although I cannot figure out who it might be. I thought we managed to imprison all those who turned against the gods in the Giant War."

Percy got an idea. His feet suddenly went cold. If he was correct in his guess…

"Perhaps we didn't," he said, "and there is still one more enemy to be defeated?"

"Who, Perseus? What do you think?"

"Chaos," he said. "Even older than Gaia. Her father actually. If he really is guarding our parent's symbols of power…"

"Hang on," said Piper. "We didn't even agree to the fact that those symbols of power still exist!"

"I believe her," said Percy. "And I believe we are in a direr situation than we all realize."

"How so?

"Those symbols of power…they are the last vestiges of our parents on this earth. If they are destroyed, for real this time, our parents are going to leave this earth. Permanently. And all of Western Civilization will collapse if that happens. They only died after the war because they were made to believe so thoroughly that their symbols of power were gone, that they had nothing to live for. That probably took powerful magic. Magic even more powerful than that of Gaia's magic. Certainly, I believe that Chaos would be able to produce magic such as this, and if he is now threatening to destroy them. We need to act. Now."

Silence once again settled over the throne room. Percy's words were so convincing that there wasn't even a tiny bit of argument against him. Jason finally broke the silence.

"How do you propose going about rescuing these ancient power symbols."
Percy thought for a while. A terrible idea occurred to him.

"We all know the gods are forbidden from entering another's domain or participating in quests…but there are some who can. We need the demigods. They are the only way to stop Western Civilization from collapsing."

Jason thought about Percy's proposal. Finally he said, "All in favor?"

The vote was unanimous.

"Very well," said Jason. "A quest shall be issued to Camp Half-Blood in order to defeat Chaos and rescue the old god's symbols of power. Call Chiron."