Unknown

I moved my hand to grab a rock, and made sure that it was sturdy. I moved my foot up and pushed off. I was currently The mist at the top was hard to see through, but as I got closer the hollow top became clearer. My foot slipped and I shot my hand up to regain my grip. I cursed myself for being so careless. I looked down to make sure no one noticed.

I looked up and admired the view for a second. The moonlight shone down on San Francisco, reflecting off the buildings. The city looked like a heart pumping blood as the lights of cars pulsed through the streets.

I pulled myself up, continuing my climb. My backpack kept shifting as I moved, making me fix it after a while.. I got to the top, and looked down inside. There were many buildings, forming white specks at the bottom of the crater. New Rome. I could see the Field of Mars, the Tigris, and the Senate House.

I took out my binoculars, and searched for the temples. I found the temple of Apollo on top of the hill. Perfect. I zoomed in so I could see the streets. At this time of night, everyone was asleep. The streets were empty, and there were some .

I took out a notebook from my backpack. I drew a crude diagram of the streets and some landmarks. Stick figures were used for the guards. I starred the temple of Apollo, looking over everything one more time before putting the notebook back in the bag.

Sarah

I laid back on my bed, just laying there. The cabin was quite interesting actually. There were all sorts of cool looking plants decorating the room. They weren't in pots, but rather grew in the walls, and on the window sills. I still couldn't believe I got demeter. I never was into gardening or anything like that.

Someone poked me gently in the shoulder, and I turned my head to look at them. I found myself face to face with a thirteen year old girl. She had straight brown hair just like me. However, she had the most natural, amazing smile.

"Hi, I'm Amanda." She said happily. I sat up, giving her a half smile.

"I'm Sarah." I said. "How long have you been here?"

"Just a couple of seconds." She said. I arched my eyebrows, and she laughed. It was too early for me to process that. "Oh, sorry. I've been coming here for a couple of years."

"Don't you miss home?" I asked. "That seems like a long time to stay here."

"Sometimes, but we get to go home over the winter if we want." She said. That made a little more sense. "So where are you from?"

"Birmingham. It's just outside Detroit. What about you?" I asked.

"I'm from Phoenix, Arizona." She said proudly. If I wasn't face to face with her, I would've sworn she stuck her chin up as she said it.

"Wow that's quite some distance. How do you get back home?" I asked.

"Pegasi are a lot faster than you think." She said with a giggle. She was cute, like a little sister. Well, I guess that's a dumb observation seeing as she is my sister. "So how do you like it here?"

"It's alright."

"Just alright?" She asked. She didn't sound offended, but rather genuinely curious. As if the idea of not thoroughly enjoying this place didn't make any sense.

"Yeah, I guess I was just hoping that when I got claimed, I would find out who I really was. You know, as if somehow finding out who my mother was would fill in all the gaps, and make it all clear. I guess I was setting really high standards, but I've dreamt of finding out who my mother was for a long time." I said. Amanda just stared blankly at me a couple of times. I worried that I said something wrong.

"Wow, that was deep." She said. "I didn't follow most of that."

We both laughed, and talked for a little while.

Thwap. I winced in pain as the wooden blade struck my arm. For a kid a couple of years younger than me, she was a much better swordsman. Our blades thudded against each other as I tried to push her back. She pulled that damn disarming move on me again, sending my sword crashing against the floor.

"You have to teach me that move sometime." I said. She stepped forward with her blade lowered.

"Here, I'll show you." She walked me through the motions. And I got the general gist of what was going on. I was learning from a 13 year old, so it wasn't the most detailed lesson.

I tried it on her a couple of times, with varying degrees of success. I tried it again, and botched it. I stepped back to try again when I felt a hand grasp my shoulder. Nearly jumping out of my skin, I spun around to see who it was.

Jason caught my blade before it hit him in the face. He gave a smile, and gulped. I was really nervous. This wasn't the drill we were supposed to be doing, so I thought we were in trouble.

"Here, let me show you how to do it." He said, letting go of my sword.

He showed me some pointers for a couple of minutes, and made sure to include Amanda. Eventually, he gave us a smile and then gestured for us to move on.

"C'mon, let's get to your drills now."

As we left the arena, we made our way towards the center of the arena. I asked her various questions about the camp, such as weather, events, stuff like that. She told me about the Second Titan War and Giant's War. I can't imagine how it felt to fight in a battle. I'm pretty sure it would scare me witless.

As we were talking, Liam walked by. His gait was brisk and serious, but I got the feeling it was always like that.

"Hey, Amanda, wait one second. HEY LIAM." I yelled out. Liam looked around, very confused. I waved him over, and he walked over. He was a little tense.

"Amanda, this is Liam. Liam, this is Amanda."

"Hey." Liam said. He shook her hand. "Nice to meet you."

He looked around, as if searching for something.

"Sit with us." I said. He shrugged and sat down. There was a moment of awkward silence.

"So where are you from Liam?" Amanda asked. She looked a little uneasy.

"Birmingham. Sarah and I went to the same school." He said. He kind of grimaced at the memory. "What about you?"

"Phoenix." She said. He nodded in acknowledgement.

"You guys both from the Demeter cabin?" He asked.

"Yeah." She said.

"So, do you get any abilities? I'm not too familiar with Demeter." He said. She brightened up at that.

"Yeah. I mean, it's not really useful in battle, but it's useful. We get a natural knack for planting things." She said. She was clearly more proud of that than I was.

"No offense, but it seems pretty simple. How does one plant better?" Liam asked. Amanda grabbed his hand and dragged him off to the Demeter cabin. I followed them, shaking my head as the hyper competitive athlete was toted around by a 13 year old.

The next week went by fairly quickly. Amanda, Liam, and I hung out when we could. Amanda's presence was refreshing. She was just young enough to be living life without focus. Liam on the other hand, acted like he was forty. The dude trained like crazy. He picked up both a hand to hand combat and a sword and shield class outside of his cabin's schedule. He was laser focused, but it was paying off. He was already becoming pretty good.

We were strapping up for capture the flag. This time, we were allies with the Hermes cabin. Liam and I helped each other with our armor. He went with a sword and shield, while I used a spear. I strapped on a shield, and watched Liam help Amanda with her armor. A tall boy with sandy blonde hair approached. Oh, it was that counselor from the Hermes cabin. Um… Vince. That's it.

"Hey, you ready Liam." Vince said. Liam gave him a grin.

"You bet. So what's the plan this time." Liam asked eagerly. Vince went over the plan with all three of us. Looked like us 3 and one more would be guarding the flag. Something about good chemistry or what not. Most of it went over my head, but Liam listened intently.

"Alright, good luck out there you guys. We'll need you in defence Liam, Athena's cabin is tricky." Vince said, and he disappeared into the crowd of demigods around the tables.

"So what's our job?" I asked.

"Guard the flag. Keep an eye out to the east in particular, but we're the last line of defence. Like a goalie." He said. I shrugged. I could live with that.

Our little group and one blonde girl followed a kid from the Ares cabin deep into the woods. We found a nice clearing and set the flag down in the clearing. The Ares kid pointed to where we should stand, and told us what to do depending on where someone came from.

"Don't fuck up." The Ares kid said. He ran off into the woods, and the four of us were left alone in the middle of the woods.

"This is creepy." Amanda said.

"Isn't that right." The blonde girl said. Now that I got a good look at her, I was stunned. She was beautiful. I am not one who usually frets over how I look, but dang. I wouldn't mind looking like her at all. She had stunning blue eyes, and the smoothest facial features. Her teeth and skin were perfect. I had no doubt which cabin she was from. She looked like she belonged on a runway, not in the middle of the woods wearing greek armor.

Liam stepped forward and shook her hand. I had noticed that about him, he greets everyone the same the first time he meets them. It's hilariously formal.

"Hi, I'm Liam."

"Lucy." She said.

"That's Amanda and Sarah." He said pointing to each us. She waved hi, and turned back to him.

"You're that kid that flipped me last week." She said.

"Excuse me?"

"In capture the flag." I was very confused. I guess they had met in capture the flag. Eventually, he realized what she was talking about. The conch horn sounded in the distance, signaling the start.

"Oh, that. Ha, yeah. I had just learned that and it just kinda happened." He said with a laugh. The four of us started talking, and Liam would leave to check around every few minutes. Lucy was actually really nice. She wasn't as bratty as a lot of the Aphrodite girls I've met.

Liam went off to check around again.

"Liam is the kid who hasn't been claimed yet, right?" Lucy softly.

"Yeah." I said.

"I'd say the Athena cabin. Maybe Ares." Amanda said.

"Why do you say that?" Lucy asked. We both kind of chuckled.

"Oh, you'll see." I said. Just as I said that, we heard someone yelling. As it got closer, we heard it more clearly. There was someone, I assume Liam, sprinting towards us.

"GET READY! THEY'RE COMING."

He skidded to a halt in front of us and turned around. All of us readied ourselves, and three kids from the other team appeared. Amanda and I charged the one on the left. I thrust my spear at him, but it clanged off of his shield. He jabbed his spear at Amanda, but she blocked it with her shield. Even with the junior shield she had a hard time lifting it. He charged forward, shield first. Amanda stepped to the side as he smashed into me. I fell on my butt, and my head hit the ground. He started attacking Amanda, who was holding her own.

I looked over and saw Liam sword fighting someone. Him and Lucy switched guys at one point. The guy was really good though, and Liam was losing ground.

Eventually the guys got his blade inside Liam's shield. With a flick of the wrist, he disarmed Liam. Instead of retreating, Liam pulled the guys shield aside with one hand and tackled him.

I jumped to my feet, deciding to go help Amanda. I smashed guy in the back with my shield and caught him in the breastplate with my spear. He grunted in pain, responding with a spear aimed at my face. It deflected off my shield and caught me in my forehead. Luckily, my helmet kept me from having a lobotomy.

However, it hurt like hell, jerking my head back with a lot of force. Amanda avenged me by sweeping his from under him with her spear. She pushed the point against his throat, and he dropped his weapon.

I got up and saw Liam had gotten his sword back. Lucy helped him chase the third guy off. The second was gone. Amanda kicked her guy's spear away and he ran off into the woods. We clapped each other on the back and them Liam clammed up. He swore under his breath.

The flag was gone.

I saw it weaving in between the trees and we sprinted after the guy. Liam ditched his shield and sped ahead of us. When we caught up with him, he was fighting two people, one of whom had the flag.

He did a good job of herding the guy with the flag, passively circling around to cut them off. We circled around them like we were told to do. The guy without the flag was crazy fast with his spear. We could barely lower our shields without it screaming towards our face. Liam had to back up about 5 feet since he didn't have a shield.

The duo was back to back, right where we wanted them. We started to close in, poking passively at them. They started to feel cornered, becoming more and more aggressive.

I jabbed at him and lost my balance a little bit. Time seemed to slow down as the guard's spear reached for my neck. It was like trying to move underwater. My vision was taken over by spear head speeding towards me.

A shape slammed into him and I saw Liam ram his shoulder against the guy's shield. Liam spun around, slamming his right elbow into the other kid's forehead.

He crumpled and Liam followed him down. We took the flag, guarding it while the other guy ran. As he left, we looked down at Liam. His eyes were open at least, but he looked a little confused.

"Man, I'm really dizzy." He said.

"You must've hit your head when you fell." I said. He nodded slowly. We helped him up together, but he was still a bit wobbly. He was dripping with so much sweat, we wiped our hands against our armor after helping him up. We planted the flag in the ground where we were standing. "Thanks for that Liam, I was afraid he was going to get me there."

"No problem." He smiled weakly at me.

"Yeah, he has a history of being a little rough. He's injured a couple of kids." Lucy said. In the distance, the conch horn blew. I guess we won again.

"Speaking of brutal, I'm pretty sure that kid's out cold." I said. We stared at him for a minute, then decide to carry him back. Liam slowly followed behind us.

Unknown

I walked down the tunnel as cars rushed past me. I had to squeeze against the wall for some of the bigger cars. The tunnel was illuminated with stale yellow lights as the grinding of rubber on asphalt echoed through the tunnel.

I stopped about 10 feet short of the tunnel exit. When there was a gap in traffic, I ran out of the tunnel and immediately turned towards the divider. There were two guards in full roman garb and purple T-shirts.

I slashed the first one in the throat with my blade before the other guard even noticed me. Sidestepping the thrust of his spear, I slid my blade through his neck. I pulled the blade out as he collapsed.

They both laid on their backs, clutching at their throats and coughing on their own blood.

I opened the door and walked down the entrance tunnel to New Rome. I didn't take time to admire the view as I entered the valley. I snuck through the river, and in no time I was creeping through the streets.

The whole city was deadly silent as everyone slept in peace. If only they knew what was coming. I pulled out a page from my notebook, studying the map. The streets were organized in a perfect grid, which actually made it harder to find my way around. Every street looked the same, meaning I had to carefully count how many I passed.

A flicker of purplish light appeared at the end of the street, and I flattened myself against a wall. It was a lare. When the lare passed, Iresumed stalking my way through the streets. My eyes were peeled for more lares or demigods.

Eventually, I started passing temples. The temples were a little less compact, with well kept lawns surrounding them. All that I really paid attention to was the temple of Apollo at the top of the hill. Using the other temples as cover, I snuck towards the temple of Apollo. There were two guards in front, and that seemed to be it.

I walked around the back of the circular temple, followed it around. I slowed down as the guards entered my view. Grabbing the hilt firmly, I broke into a sprint.

I ran up to the closer guard, and slit his throat from behind while I held him up. I pushed the body into the other guard, knocking him over. Before the kid even knew what was going on, my blade was halfway through his windpipe.

The spray of blood caught me in the face, and I didn't even bother to wipe it off. I finally walked into temple, admiring the magnitude of the temple. There were purple banners hanging from the ceiling, torches bolted to the pillars and all that. But most importantly, there was a massive altar opposite the entrance. It was flanked by braziers which illuminated the altar in the otherwise dim room.

The actual altar itself was a long table, arced to fit against the back wall. It had loose papers strewn all over it, each one crammed with random writing. But most importantly, in the center were twelve book stands. Nine of them had books in them, open to random pages.

The Sibylline books. Books containing countless prophecies, some of which were yet to be fulfilled. I threw them into my backpack, and started gathering up the papers. The papers were the attempts to reconstruct the books.

I dumped the papers into the fire in the braziers. I was busy. I didn't have time to search through hundreds of prophecies, most of which were either already fulfilled or had no relevance to me. The flames grew as they began to devour at least a couple years of work. I gave a grin. They will be furious. I gave a grin at that thought.

I snuck back out. That was a little easier. Defences are made to keep people from coming in, not to keep them in. As I walked down the tunnels, I was bursting with joy. I just stole 9 volumes of the Sibylline books. They are irreplaceable, but they're gonna have to try and replace them.

Bummer that I didn't actually get to fight anybody, but I needed to be quiet. I stepped over the bodies in front of the door, and let out a deep breath.

Thompson

"PRAETOR!" A voice yelled. "PRAETOR!"

I snapped awake, reaching immediately for my sword. The doors to my room burst open and I dashed to my feet, blade ready. Austin, our pontifex maximus, stood in front of me breathing heavily.

"Thompson...Our work...gone...in fire" He said in between breaths. I stepped forward, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Calm down. Use sentences, what's going on?" I asked. Austin caught his breath, and straightened up.

"The sibylline books. They're gone."

I quickly sheathed my sword, then wrapped the belt around my waist. Sprinting out the door, I skidded down the hall. I burst out of the doors to the Praetors' villa. As I hustled through the streets, the shops and barracks flew by.

The small trickle of people in the streets parted, watching me sprint past them. Some gave alarmed looks, while others merely looked confused. Everyone knew that if a praetor was in such a hurry, that nothing good was going on.

I couldn't seem to get there fast enough, but eventually I made it to the temples. There were four guards in front of the temple of Apollo. As I flew up the steps, the guards stepped aside to let me in. I took a minute to look around.

There were two bodies on the floor of the temple, pushed to the side so as to be out of sight. One had their throat cut open and the other's T-shirt was stained black with blood. The braziers that usually stood next to the altar were knocked over. A splash of half burnt papers and ash surrounded the braziers. There were priests of Apollo crowded around them, sifting through what was left of the papers. Most notably though, all of the book stands were empty.

"What happened here?" I demanded. To say I was angry was an understatement. Those books were the product of over a decade of work. Ella and Tyson worked very hard to put those together. A priest stood up and approached me.

"Someone snuck in last night and stole the books. They burned all the spare papers in the brazier." He said. His worry was displayed all over his face.

"Is it savable?" I asked. He shrugged his shoulders gingerly.

"To be honest, only some of it. A lot of the prophecies are fulfilled or are very minor." He shifted uneasily. "But that's the least of your problems."

I raised an eyebrow at that.

"Someone didn't destroy the books themselves, they stole them. They have countless prophecies at their disposal. Not all of them are useless, but they now have infinitely more information than we have." He said.

"And clearly they're not very friendly." He nodded in agreement at that. "What time did you find them?"

"First thing in the morning. I'm guessing they'd been there for some time."

"Alright, just keep this quiet. If anyone asks, tell them we're not sure what's going on yet." I said. That should buy me enough time to figure out the jist of this. At the very least, I have time to prepare a speech. Oh crap, I almost forgot. "Hey."

He turned around.

"We still have it though right."

"Austin memorized it as a security measure." He said. That was a relief. If we had lost that, it would have been terrible.

I walked back to the villa. The people in the streets had continued their daily lives, walking from place to place as if nothing was wrong. I knew it wouldn't take long for the rumors to spread. That really limits the time to write the speech.

The villa consisted of two side by side rooms on the second floor, with a shared living room on the bottom. I pushed open the double doors, and let out a sigh. The living room consisted of a kitchen, a couch and a TV. On the couch sat a girl with long brown hair, sifting through a collection of papers.

It was Victoria, the other Praetor.

I sat next to her and looked over her shoulder. The papers were filled top to bottom with paragraphs of writing. I read the top, which labeled them as witness statements.

"I don't know who it could be." She said without taking her eyes off the papers. She laid her head back, letting loose a long, drawn out sigh. "It has to be a demigod; no monster could get past the barrier."

"I'll get in contact with the Greeks." I said. Victoria nodded in approval.

"Keep it vague." She warned. I rolled my eyes at that. Running up to my room, I pulled out a notebook and pencil. I sat at the edge of my bed. My pencil bobbed against my temple as I thought about how to word it.

I finished the letter, and walked to my window. I pulled it open, then whistled as loud as I could. A large eagle attempted to land through the window, but couldn't fit. It hovered in front of my window while I tied the letter to its foot. It flew off and I could only hope the Greeks had an idea what was going on.

A/N: Hey look at that! Plot! So I want this story to be a bit darker than the PJO series, but if it gets too dark, let me know.

As always, reviews, favorites, follows very much appreciated.