Alright guys. Let's get some things straight.

I don't watch Agents of SHIELD. I just don't have the time to, and honestly, I don't want to. I tried watching the first episode, and I got bored.

And I'm not taking anything away from the people who do like the show. I'm just saying this because it occurred to me last night that this piece of information will actually be really important for you guys.

Why? Because Captain America: Winter Soldier showed that SHIELD was infiltrated by HYDRA, and apparently, in Agents of SHIELD, there are these scores of people (whose names aren't at all familiar to me) who actually sort of rebuild SHIELD somewhere (?) out of scratch. Long story short, this story will be completely ignoring whatever happens in that TV show.

And I guess this story will also be ignoring Uncle Rick's new Magnus Chase book, and anything that comes after that.

Here's a small list of things that I've changed/ignored for the sake of this story:

1. Everyone knows that Coulson is very much alive.

2. Nick Fury is still the Director of SHIELD.

3. The Norse and everything that has to do with the Norse is how the MCU describes it, and not how Rick Riordan does in Magnus Chase.

4. Thalia died during the Second Giant War.

And the list goes on. (Review or PM me if I missed anything.)

Basically, all I'm saying is: don't look into it too much. Because I sort of wrote this story on a whim, and it turned into this huge thing that really means so much to me. So yeah. No hate please.

ALSO, I guess this story takes place somewhere between The Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron (for the MCU), and two or so years after The Blood of Olympus (for the Percy Jackson universe).

That's all, I guess. Sorry for the hella long A/N, but it was important.

Anything you might recognise belongs to Rick Riordan, Stan Lee, and Marvel.

Lauren was doing her best not to think too much about what had just happened. But Ethan was freaking out.

"Why'd you do that?" he exclaimed. "They were the freaking Avengers! They were all over TV and stuff. They saved the world from these alien things—"

"I know what they did," Lauren snapped, lugging him along past the busy nighttime streets of New York. "And I know who they are. But they are still mortals. We can't let them get tangled up in our business. You should already know that."

She jogged them down a pedestrian lane, keeping her head down and hissing for Ethan to do the same. It was a well-known fact that New York was the city that never slept, which meant demigods couldn't very much wander through Manhattan with weapons in hand. About a dozen people passed by, staring at Lauren oddly. The Mist probably made them think she was just wearing a costume, on her way to some cosplay convention downtown.

With long strides, she led Ethan through most of the bustling city, keeping him from attracting too much attention; though she would never have admitted it out loud, he was the one who kept her from many head-on collisions with cars and taxi cabs.

"Don't you know how to cross a road?" Ethan demanded, pulling her away from a glaring contest with one of the taxi drivers. "Jeez."

She scowled, snatching her arm away—as if burned. "It has been 17 years since I've had to walk through… such populated streets. And I have to say"—she glowered at another citizen who bumped into her shoulder—"the people have lost their charm."

"We're not the only ones who are hurrying—"

"You forget your place, boy," she suddenly snapped. "We are hurrying because there could very well be another incoming global crisis on our hands. These people are hurrying because of their petty movie dates and job interviews!"

For a moment, she thought she had finally silenced the boy's incessant arguing. But then she heard him say to himself: "Movie dates aren't petty…"

Her eyes flashed and she actually reached for an arrow, before she soon realized what she was doing. Dropping her arm again, she met Ethan's frightened gaze only for half a second before looking away, scowling.

"Come on," she said, quickening her pace to walk ahead of him. "We're close."

She said nothing more for the remainder of the walk, and was glad that Ethan followed suit. After another quarter of an hour of walking, they were finally standing before the Empire State Building—in all its untapped glory as it towered dozens of stories above them. Lauren slung her bow onto her back with a determined expression.

She would have thought that Ethan had seen the Building before, considering how confident he'd been while on the way. But when she turned her head, she found him staring at the very top with his jaw hanging open. She rolled her eyes at the look of awe on his face, and then walked through the spinning doors.

There weren't much people inside, only a few more loiterers and the lady behind the information desk. Her smile was just as dazzling as ever, but it occurred to Lauren that the security guard—who was always, always, beside the receptionist—wasn't behind the desk. Which was odd.

Stopping in her tracks, she searched for the familiar patch of curly hair among the people milling about, and found nothing.

"Where are you?" she muttered, glancing skyward just in case he was already upstairs, for some reason. No reply came. Not even the rumbling of thunder.

"What now?" asked Ethan.

"We go up," Lauren answered. Normally, she wouldn't have travelled to Olympus without talking to the guard, but he wasn't present anyway, and it was urgent. She hurriedly pulled Ethan into one of the elevators, ignoring his and the receptionist's protests. Before the other security guards could stop them, the doors had already closed.

"Top floor, right?" said Ethan, his hand slowly making its way to press the highest button. Lauren swatted it away, scowling at him.

"No," she said, and then faced her own reflection on the smooth elevator doors. "600th floor," she stated loudly and clearly. "Mount Olympus."

"State your purpose," a male voice said, not very different from JARVIS's.

"To seek counsel with Artemis," Lauren replied.

Nothing happened. The silence stretched into a long half-minute before the voice came again: "Request repudiated." The elevator doors opened again, revealing a huffing receptionist and a burly security guard. They reached into the elevator, but this time, it was Ethan who closed the doors in their faces. They were barely able to pull their arms out in time.

"State your purpose."

"I seek counsel with Artemis!" said Lauren, agitated.

This time, there was no answer stating that her request had been repudiated. The doors simply opened once more. Lauren repeatedly tapped the Close button, but it refused to work. She and Ethan were dragged back out to the busy streets outside.

They'd been kicked out of Olympus before they'd even entered.

"This doesn't make any sense," Lauren muttered, fishing into all her pockets in search for a tiny, important thing.

"Maybe they're busy or something," said Ethan as he sat on the marble steps of one of the many fountains in the city.

She rolled her eyes. "The gods are always busy. Do you have a drachma?"

"Those coin things that Chiron kept tossing to the Iris campers?"

Lauren nodded once, and he started digging into his pockets. After a few seconds, he released a triumphant cry, pulling a drachma out of his pants' back pocket. Lauren snatched it out of his hand and walked up onto the fountain's top step.

"O Iris, goddess of the rainbow, please accept my offering," she muttered quickly, breathing hotly onto the golden coin before tossing it into the fountain. A yelp of protest erupted from Ethan, which she easily silenced with a wave of her hand. Nothing happened with the fountain—it usually would have started bubbling, or steaming, but the drachma just continued in its slow descent to the bottom.

Lauren sighed. "You have anymore?"

There was a moment of silence before: "Uh, sure," said Ethan, handing her a slightly rusty drachma.

"Oh, Fleecy, do me a solid." Holding her breath, Lauren flipped the coin (for luck) and let it splash into the ice-cold water. She waited a few seconds before a ringing sound crept into her ears.

"What would you like to see?" said a woman's voice.

Lauren didn't bother to look behind her and at Ethan, knowing she was the only one who'd heard. "Show me the council room of Olympus."

"Request has been denied. Please ask for another—"

"Show me Olympus."

"Request has been denied. Please—"

"Artemis," Lauren interrupted. "Show me Artemis." She was surprised to hear a sigh on the other side of the call, which was very unlike one of Iris' helpers.

The water started bubbling. Colored water spurted upwards, a second fountain in the average-sized pool, arcing sideward to form a make-shift surface. The water started gurgling, and Lauren had to inch closer in order to realize that it was not gurgling but, in fact, there were voices: a high-pitched yet firm woman's speech nearly lost behind the thunderous booming of a man.

Lauren knew the woman's voice like the back of her hand; the man's, not so much, but she'd heard it enough to be able to tell who it was. She hastily rearranged her clothes and straightened her stance. Subtly, she gestured for Ethan to do the same.

Not soon enough, it seemed.

A figure walked into view of the Iris message, donned in a dress that very much resembled moonshine. Her hair was no longer in a high ponytail, but fell in luscious red curls down her back. Lauren stared at her in reverence, bowing her head slightly.

"My Lady Artemis," she greeted curtly, before launching into a brief rundown of what happened the last day. "Camp Half-Blood's borders were breached. A large pack of wolves attacked, but I was able to safely escape with the boy, like you told me to." (She decided against mentioning their encounter with the group of mortals in 'Avengers Tower', figuring that it didn't matter anyway.)

The goddess nodded briskly. "How were the borders breached?"

"Something went wrong with the Fleece, I think. It frosted over and for some reason, the hoarfrost was able to disable the magic." Lauren noticed the grim expression that appeared on Artemis' face, and frowned. "Do you know what could have caused such a thing, my Lady?"

Artemis glanced around her, and just by that, Lauren knew that the other gods were standing behind her—perhaps even Zeus himself. "We have our assumptions," the goddess stated.

"It's that snow goddess, isn't it?" Lauren quietly said. "She was not put down during the Giant War, and now she is back—"

"Aeolus is searching for her as we speak. For now, you must send an Iris message to Chiron and ask him of everything that has transpired since you've been gone. You and the Hunters will stay where you are—though separated—and you will keep the boy safe." Artemis cocked an eyebrow. "That's an order, Lauren."

"Yes, Artemis," she replied, albeit reluctantly.

The goddess nodded, and several voices started muttering in at once. Lauren was able to discern a few words like 'Tartarus' and 'overthrow'. The call had then become too muffled for her to make anything else out properly.

Sighing, she turned around and held her hand out to Ethan. He stared at the place where the Iris message had just dissolved. "What was that?" he asked, blinking rapidly with wide eyes.

"An Iris message, something gods and demigods use to communicate from afar. Since we are not allowed to use cellphones, we use these. Now," she waved her hand impatiently, "Give me another drachma."

Ethan frowned deeply and fished another one of the golden coins out of his pocket. "That's my last one," he said, handing it to her.

"It will do." Lauren flipped the coin into the water, effortlessly ignoring the odd looks passersby's were giving her. She sighed and closed her eyes. "Oh, Fleecy, do me a solid."

"What would you like to see?"

"Show me Chiron, in Camp Half-Blood."

Behind her, she noticed Ethan step up from his original spot to stand beside her, looking at the extra spring of water—which was slowly coloring to form an image—earnestly. She couldn't blame him. She was eager to see the Hunters as well, anxious to discover what happened after they escaped.

Despite the fact that there had been very little of them to start with—ever since their last violent happenstance with Orion—she knew that the Hunters could take care of themselves against a pack of wolves. Even though said wolves were larger and more powerful than normal.

Still, as second-in-command to Artemis, it was Lauren's job to be vexed.

Light erupted from the center of the fountain's make-shift mirror, and an image came into view: a large half-horse half-man trotting up to the Iris message, and he could be found standing in front of the familiar circle of cabins within camp.

The very familiar golden cabin of Apollo towered directly behind Chiron, with tanned kids running around the shining exteriors. Ethan stepped ever closer, the same way Chiron was.

"Lauren?" said the centaur, his eyes widening in recognition. "Ethan?"

"We are in Manhattan, near the Empire State," Lauren stated coolly. "Tried entering Olympus. Never got up. I called Artemis and she told us to stay where we were. We're fine." She raised an eyebrow. "How are things over there? Are my Hunters all right?"

Chiron ran a hand over his distressed face. "They're fine," he said. "The camp is fine, though there are still a few dead wolves scattered about… But we're fine."

"That's good to hear," Ethan spoke up from behind Lauren. "What happened anyway? Are the borders working again?"

"Yes, yes," the centaur replied. "I had Peleus back on duty as soon as I could. He burned away the frost… or whatever it was. But there was some sort of magic on it. I could feel it."

Lauren nodded in agreement. "Artemis said that Khione could be back. She never died during the Titan War, and the Olympians are guessing that she's come back to terrorize us again."

"It does explain the snow in your dreams…" Chiron said. "And the wolves that came—"

"Also from the dreams."

He thought for a moment. "It still doesn't explain why you'd dream about the Hunter's demise, though…"

He could be back as well, Lauren thought grimly, tapping her chin lightly. She decided not to tell the centaur her thoughts on the matter, not until they confirmed it. Instead, she said, "You should chain the dragon onto the tree, just in case… she happens again."

Chiron nodded briskly before turning around and calling for a camper. The closest kid, one from the Apollo cabin, ran to intercept the centaur, listened for his order, and jogged out of view once more. Presumably to Half-Blood Hill. Lauren couldn't figure how he would be able to chain the dragon single-handedly. Dragons were very vicious creatures, and they wouldn't want to be tied to a tree. But perhaps Peleus was tamer than she previously perceived.

She remembered a small detail, and asked, "Has Blaze returned?"

"She's back in the stables," Chiron replied. "A little bruised, but nothing much to worry about. She'll be back in condition before the end of the week. And Edward's on his way to get Peleus' chain from the Hephaestus cabin as we speak." He turned to face them again. "Is there anything else I should know about?"

"Nothing—"

"Yeah!" Ethan cut in, beaming in excitement. "So we got attacked by these storm spirits on the way here, right? Lauren sort of got stabbed—"

Chiron sputtered, looking at Lauren like she'd just grown a wart before his very eyes. "Stabbed?"

"Yeah, so these two guys come flying in, right? One of them was Iron Man! Freaking Iron Man!"

"And the other one?"

"That Hulk dude. They're from the Avengers!"

The centaur stroked his beard thoughtfully. "I have heard of them… The others weren't there?"

"That Hawkeye dude was back at Avengers tower. Iron Man brought us there and healed Lauren! It was so cool. They asked me all these kinds of questions, but I didn't answer them because I knew Lauren wouldn't like it. Then she just up and appears out of nowhere with her weapons! And then—"

"Enough," Lauren snapped, sending the boy a heated glare. "I did what I had to. They were mortals. Now they will not have to be stuck dealing with demigod problems." She scowled at Ethan for a moment longer before looking at Chiron. "Fetch Jill, will you? I need to speak with her."

The centaur bowed marginally before trotting away. He was only gone for the good of ten seconds before a raven-haired girl jogged into view, dirt smearing her face and a few scratches on her jacket, but no worse for wear. She regarded Lauren wearily, nodding in greeting: "Lauren."

"Jill." She started waving for Ethan to exit the view of the Iris message, not wanting to touch him more than necessary. He didn't look too happy about it, pursing his lips, but eventually a heavy sigh escaped his lips before he walked off to a diner a few ways down the street. Lauren stared after him, waiting for him to disappear behind the doors before returning her attention to Jill.

"What news?" she inquired, only just noticing that the girl's quiver was empty.

Jill exhaled deeply. "No casualties, thankfully," she said. "We were able to kill all the wolves in the perimeter. As far as I know, none of the campers got killed, but I saw a few bleeding pretty badly in the infirmary." She paused, as if hesitant. "Chiron says that you talked with Artemis."

"Yes."

"It would make sense for the snow goddess to come back, I guess…" Jill readjusted her quiver, which was hanging limply at the side of her hip, most likely from a torn strap. "When are you and the boy coming back?"

"I cannot be sure," Lauren replied solemnly. "Artemis told me to stay put, and she wants you to stay where you are as well. I don't like the idea, but we can never seem to refuse her, can we?"

A hint of a smile trailed up Jill's lips. "How long do you think we'll have to stay apart?" she asked.

"A week or two, perhaps? Probably for as long as it takes for the gods to find the snow goddess… and to figure out a way to deal with her," Lauren added. Jill nodded, her expression grave. Lauren noticed the Iris message start flickering with static, and waved a hand to the girl on the other end of the call. "I have to go. I'm appointing you second… third-in-command?"

Jill chuckled lightly, and Lauren grinned. "You will be in charge of the girls while I am here, alright? Make sure they don't kill any of the men there."

"No promises."

Lauren laughed as the Iris message started turning grey. "Do not do anything I wouldn't do," she said at the last minute, hoping the girl on the other end could still hear her properly.

Jill opened her mouth to say more, but before she could, the image in the fountain completely died down. The second spring of water inclined slowly, before completely disappearing back into the pool.

Lauren stared into the cool waters, seeing the three drachmas she'd dropped into it and wondering what Jill wanted to say. She wished she'd been able to see the rest of her sisters-in-arms, just to see that they were really fine and hadn't killed any of Chiron's male campers yet, but Ethan was officially all out of drachmas.

Remembering Ethan, she turned around and looked to the diner down the street, where he had gone into. It was dark inside, yet Lauren knew that it wasn't so late for them to have closed already. If her calculations were correct, it was only a little half past 8 o'clock.

There were no signs of movement inside, which was odd… because Ethan should have been there, and he couldn't have gotten in if somebody hadn't let him in. Perhaps he had a key, but that was highly doubtful.

Then perhaps someone had let him in, but why hadn't they turned the lights on? Surely it was difficult to see with how dark it was inside, considering the blinds were shut…

An uneasy feeling crept into Lauren's gut. She normally wouldn't have worried for a boy, but Artemis had given orders: keep him safe. The Hunters knew enough about how mortals had evolved, with their technology as well as their arrogances. New York City was a big place, and it could have been harboring many delinquents.

Lauren pulled an arrow out of her quiver and slowly advanced towards the diner.

The closer she got, the more she noticed just how quiet the streets had become. Had the people thinned out so much during two of the Iris messages? It couldn't have been more than fifteen minutes. She nocked an arrow and held it in place before pulling one slit of the blinds down. As she'd feared, it was completely dark inside. Even with her concentration placed fully in her vision, she couldn't make out a figure anywhere.

She pulled away and, placing her hand on the door knob, took a deep breath. Then she pulled the door open, and the first thing she put through the doorway was the point of her arrow.

Nothing changed. The rate of movement was just as low as it was before. Warily, and heightening her senses, Lauren walked into the diner with her bow drawn. It was very dark, and she was lucky enough not to walk straight into a chair or a table, or the counter and a coffee machine. She held her breath and walked deeper into the diner.

"Ethan," she hissed. "Where are you?"

There came a single, sharp click, followed by a rattling sound. The first word that came to her mind was: Grenade. Lauren jumped in surprise and backpedaled, knocking over a chair and stubbing her heel against the leg of a table. A table.

She hopped over the piece of furniture, landing on her feet and in a crouching position. She pushed the table so it lay on its side. In one swift movement, she returned her arrow into the quiver and ducked her head behind the firm surface of the table. She hoped it wasn't wood. She hoped it was metal, or something stronger.

Her ears were pricked, waiting for the deafening boom of the grenade going off. Instead, she heard a continuous hissing sound; not like a snake's, but like when steam rushes through a crack on a pipe…

Slowly, she brought her head up to peek past the edge of the table. The atmosphere in the room seemed to have become thicker, and it was getting hard to breathe. With narrowed eyes, Lauren noticed that the air before her had adapted a strange grey tinge. A soft thud echoed from behind her.

She was getting lightheaded now. She tried fighting past the nausea and the dizziness, but only ended up getting herself an intense headache and a body going limp. She dropped her bow only seconds before sinking to the ground. Her chest felt constricted, like someone was squeezing her lungs. Black spots appeared in her vision and her eyelids slowly drooped closed.

Only half-awake, she noticed a pair of feet coming towards her; a single nerve in her brain must have registered that they were not Ethan's shoes. She tried to stand, but it was as if someone had placed the weight of the world on her shoulders.

It occurred to her that it would be the second time for her to fall into unconsciousness that day. Then, she blacked out completely.

[meow] leave a review please [meow]