I DON'T OWN THIS: RICK RIORDAN DOES

~The Assassins~

"UGH," PERCY GROANED. "CAN'T YOU AND YOUR BROTHERS REMEMBER THAT WE ARE ACTUALLY HUMAN AND CAPABLE OF DYING?"

Percy glanced at Rose, who was sitting next to him on the balcony, a glass of champagne on her right hand, and a chocolate on her left. The balcony had been his idea – it had been a long day of training. It didn't matter that it had been two years since he started Torture 101 with The Wonder Triplets, he would always feel like he could lay down and die peacefully, tiredly after training.

"Alex's is not my brother," Roselyn said absently before wrapping her lips around the piece of chocolate.

"He might as well be," Percy countered. "He certainly acts like it."

The corner of her mouth lifted slightly, if only for a moment before it was gone. "Why did you invite me here, Percy? You should be out celebrating with the rest of the Army. You only have a few more days of freedom before break is over. Why would you possibly need to see me?" She wondered. "I have things to do."

She didn't apologize when she saw him grimaced at her harsh words. They both knew it was true. She was an "Original" – which was what Percy had come to refer the Wonder Triplets as – a Council member, a teacher, and an assassin. She didn't have much time to herself, yet there she was, sitting with him, watching the last rays of the sun go down.

"I heard you're going on a mission," he said after a moment of silence. "Is it true?"

She smirked, finally looking at him, her golden irises dancing with amusement. "Why? Are you worried about me? Is that it?"

He rolled his eyes at her. "I am. Who would control the other two Originals if you were gone?"

She laughed, throwing her golden halo head back, her lithe body shaking with laugher. "Alex is a good boy," she said, before biting her lip. "Maybe a little moody at times, but he's sweet. And my brother, well, he's like me. Give him a little wine, and he's good."

"What is it with you all and drinking?" He asked, ignoring her comment about Alex, the sweetheart.

She dragged her white teeth over her lower lip, and twisted her body around to look at him directly. "So you know how the Army calls us assassins?" Once he nodded, she continued. "I think I've explained this, but – look. It isn't easy. Sometimes it gets the best of us, which is why we keep a healthy supply of the best alcohol around. I know – we seem like alcoholics to you, though we're not, really. It's just…we're coping."

She was playing with the ruby that hung at her neck, stroking it gently with the tip of her fingers.

"Isn't there an easier way?" He asked just for curiously.

Her lips puckered up in a pout. "We've been alive for a few years, Perce." Her tone was light with teasing, her eyes playful, and her smile mischievous, - he found that he couldn't help smiling back. "I think we would have figured out a way if there was one."

"Have you tried talking to other people about it? You know, like counseling?"

She snorted, rolling her eyes at him. "Oh, please. We might all be one big, dysfunctional family, but we do like to keep our own secrets. We all have our own burdens to bear."

"So what do you do when those burdens wear you down?"

She tilted her head to the side, her loose golden locks spilling over the side with sudden movement. Her eyebrows furrowed as she consider the question, her lips puckering up again. It was silent for a few moments as she looked at him without really seeing him.

"That," she said softly, her eyes still faraway, glazing at something beyond him, "is a really good question."

The Camp had suffered through out many wars, yet it remain standing even after its enemies had fallen. Annabeth spend four days telling the campers that it would be alright, no they were not all going to die, no Chaos' kids weren't going to eat the smaller campers when they got hungry, no the monster underneath Kami's bed wasn't a child of Chaos, no the monsters couldn't pass Thalia's tree…no, the gods wouldn't let them die.

The last one was a lie. The gods would gladly allow the death of all of their children in sacrifice for their lives. She had experience it first-hand. The gods may allow them all to die, but if they did die, they would die fighting.

There was no other choice.

Brenda sighed. "You're thinking about it again, aren't you?"

Annabeth snapped her head to look at her friend, startled. "What?"

"You get this look – hopeless, dead like – when you're thinking about the last war," she explained as she wiped the strawberry jelly on her bread with the butter knife. "It's depressing."

She smiled thinly. "Nice to know I have 'a look', Brenda. I never knew."

"I'm serious," Brenda said. "What is it about that war that makes you all sad?"

Annabeth played her poker face well. Some demons weren't meant to be share with others. "I don't like war. This upcoming war, it just brings back bad memories, that's all."

"Hey," the other girl said softly, placing her hand on top of Annabeth's. "Anna, it's okay. I know that you didn't have very good friends to help you through the last war, but we're here now, me, Ethan, and Annoying Jacob."

I know you didn't have very good friends to help you through…

Annabeth swallowed the lump in her throat, and smiled. "Jacob, Ethan, and I. What you said was –"

"Yeah, yeah, smarty pants," Brenda said, waiving it way like it was nothing. "So, look. I know it's a few hours till the kids of Chaos are here, but I'm curious."

"About?"

"If Chaos doesn't live here, if he's out somewhere in the galaxy, than where the hell are his kids coming from?"

That was a very good question which Annabeth had been asking herself all three days, nine hours, and thirty-six minutes. Where did Chaos came from? Why would he come to warn them, truly? Why throw his kids into the soon-to-be slaughter? Did he care that little about them?

"It's rumored that Chaos has a kingdom that rests upon the sky," she answered Brenda's question carefully, reciting what she had read in the text Beyond Greek Gods Reign. There weren't a lot of those books around, the gods didn't want many people to know that there was a being more powerful than them. It would hurt their ego, their reputation. She had gotten it curtsy of Athena, who had given it to her as a birthday present. "His children however…I don't know. I don't think he would keep them in his reign with him."

Brenda nodded thoughtfully. "Huh. Well, I'll ask them once they decide to get here. I want to know about them. I wonder if there's any sexy guys. I wouldn't even mind if he was alien as long as he's sexy." She winked at her, a grin spreading across her face.

Annabeth grinned back. "They're not alien. They are demigods."

"They're from space. They are alien."

Annabeth let out a little laugh, taking an orange as they stood from the table. Breakfast was over, and they really did need to train – war looming over their heads tended to make them take training a little more seriously. "I don't know if that's accurate. I guess we'll have to ask the sexy aliens."

Brenda laughed. "You get me, you really do."

And they went their separate ways. Annabeth had Greek to teach, and Brenda had archery. Her morning was spend with the newbies, teaching them Greek grammar, which wasn't as easy as it seemed. There was only so much their Greek-Installed brain could do if they were not actually trying. After an hour, she let them go, and she made her way down to the arena where he was waiting for her.

He smiled as he saw her come in. "Hey."

She lowered her eyes to the sword he was holding, and held back a sob. How many times had she gone to the arena hopping it wasn't Ethan expecting her? Too many to remember. "I think we shouldn't be doing this anymore."

He paused where he was slaughtering the dummies, and turned to look at her. "What?"

"I just…" She took a deep breath. "We're in a middle of a war. I can't do this with a the threat of a war hanging over my head and –"

"You've done this before," he reminded her, his eyes blazing with reproach. "With him."

Her neck snap up to meet his eyes, her eyes narrowed and her jaw set with anger. "Don't. You said you'd never go there."

She'd never personally told Ethan about him, but he had heard the stories from other campers. He has asked her, though, but she had refused to talk about it.

"Yeah, well, it seemed we're both doing things we said we wouldn't, aren't we?" He said rhetorically with a hint of bitterness.

She sighed, running her hand through her tangled blonde locks…hair which he had always liked to pet, running his hands through it to untangle it.

"I just can't," she said, taking a step towards to the exit. She needed to get out of Camp, even if it was only for a few hours. "I'm done."

Without looking at him, she turned, and walked away, feeling lighter than she had in years.

If there was something she could say about the new kids, it was that they had style.

She had left Camp to take a jog – a really long, two hour jog. She had come back sweaty, hot and gross, but she had never felt better, physically, mentally, or emotionally. She loved running, always had, always will. There was that though of freedom when she was running, the burning in her legs that washed away any thought, and the jelly, weak but oh so wonderful feeling that it left behind in her legs after she stop running…those things were incredible.

She had taken a shower, ignoring Malcolm's curious, yet sympathetic eyes when she had left the shower, and French braided her hair back.

"What?" She snapped as she placed the band around her hair to hold her hair.

Malcolm said calmly, "The Camp has been in a frenzy," he paused, closing the book he was holding softly, and sighed. "Are you okay?"

She looked at herself in the mirror. A girl with long blonde braided hair stared back. Her cheeks were a little thinner than they had been three years back, matching her thin frame, and her eyes…they were full of determination, intelligence…

And a hint of life.

A ghost of a smile tug at her lips.

That was new, she thought.

"Yeah," she said to her brother after a moment. "I've never been better."

Her brother nodded, smiling back. "I'm glad."

"I am too."

He was about to say something, but there was a scream which had them running out the cabin.

Everyone had gather to the top of the hill.

Even from next to her cabin, she could see what all the commotion was about. It even made her stop in her tracks, and stare unbelievingly.

People. Were. Falling. Out. Of. The. Sky.

What in all Holy Hades?

Annabeth got to the top of the hill just in time to see kids landing in pairs, seemingly coming out of the blue sky. They drop fast, and landed neatly, than they stood stock still, hands behind their backs. She counted seventy-two, including the ones that stood in the very front of the kids – the only ones whose hands were not behind their back, but resting in their stomachs.

Chiron stepped forward.

"Hello," he said, his tail swishing back and forth nervously.

She understood his hesitance, his nerves. The kids –most of them, except the two - wore black coats, the hoods pulled up to hide their faces. None of them moved. Hell, they did not looked like they were breathing.

The two in the front, the ones who were not wearing black, but a dark royal blue, step forward in unison after ten seconds of silence.

One of them reached up with black gloved hands, and pushed the hood back. It was a boy – a gorgeous boy- with dark chocolate brown hair, beautiful hazel eyes, sharp defined features, and kissable looking lips. He would have been a girl's dream if he wasn't scowling.

"Chiron," the boy said with a hint of arrogance. He looked over the campers with lazy, empty, eyes. "My father told me you would know of our arrival." His eyes settled on a small blonde girl. "There was no need to scream."

The girl lowered her eyes.

"Yes, of course, but you did surprise us," Chiron said hastily. "We expected you to…arrive differently – like a car, or with your father –"

"My father's busy," the boy said airily. "He doesn't have time to just drop in for a visit on Earth." He sneered lightly. "I don't expect any of you to understand since your gods are all lazy."

There was a few gasps, some of outrage, and some of admiration, but no one said a word, watching the arrogant boy.

"You still haven't told me your name, my boy," Chiron said with a hint of a warning.

The boy looked back at Chiron, still emotionless, with that same laziness. "So nice to know that you care about my identity," he said, his tone dripping with sarcasm. "But if you must really know, the name's Alexander."

"You're not going to present your siblings?" Annabeth asked, stepping forward. She didn't like the way he was looking, or speaking to her father figure.

He looked like he would have rolled his eyes, but was too lazy to actually do it. "Oh, them?" He glanced at the small army standing to attention behind him from the corner of his eye. "Mmmh. It'd take too long. They'll present themselves if they want to. I'm not their babysitter, or their mother to be showing them off. Plus, we have better things to do."

The dark royal blue coated figure next to the boy sighed before throwing the hood back. The face beneath the hood was just as pretty as the boy's, but a lot more feminine, softer, and with long strands of brown hair.

"We would like to discuss a few things with you, Chiron," the girl said. "And if it be alright with them, the counselors as well."

Chiron blinked. "Of course, my dear. But-"

"Fantastic," she said before turning to Alexander. "Do you want to do it now, or till we've settled?"

"I don't see why we can't do both at the same time," he responded. "Like I said, I'm not their damn babysitter, Camille."

Camille nodded. "Alright." Not even looking faze by Alexander's unexplainable annoyance, she turned to the people behind her. "You all heard him. You all know your jobs, which I suggest you do before we get back or Alex is going to burst your head against a tree, and I will not stop him if you deserve it for lazing about. We won't be long. Go!"

Her siblings – or servants, Annabeth thought, - shouted back something to Camille, something in a language Annabeth didn't speak, but if she had to guess, she would say they were agreeing with Camille. The Children of Chaos – minus Bossy Camille and Grouchy Alexander – did as they were order. They disappeared in between the trees in flashes of black, and some times, a little bit of gold.

She blinked, surprise.

How could they move so fast?

Camille turned to them. While she was not as grouchy as Alexander, she was not friendly. She didn't smile, or thank them for allowing them enter Camp. She just looked around each of them with disinterests.

"So," she said to Chiron. "Where can we talk?"

In the end, it was decided that they would talk in the counselor's meeting room. Camille and Alexander remain standing, even after they were offered chairs. Annabeth could not help but notice the way the eyes of the newcomers move around from object to object with no sort of interest. She recognize that – they were familiarizing the soon-to-be "battle field."

"Now that we are all comfortable," Chiron said after he had settled in his wheel chair, "please tell us what it is you wanted to tell us."

Alexander took over. "We are to inform you of our plan," he said with a hint of annoyance. "Our father does not think it fair for us to come here and set about our will, but we need to do it."

Annabeth's eyes narrowed. She did not like where this was leading, not one bit. "Meaning?"

"Meaning," Camille said, the previous arrogance of Alexander now oozing from her, "we will set up boarders around this unsafe, and badly protected Camp because we will not have the lives of our comrades in danger. Everyone who comes in and comes out will have to pass by our border, and will have to state who they are to one of my soldiers. By midnight, anyone who wants to go out will be denied passage -"

"Hey, whoa, what -" Will was cut off because Camille didn't stop her little rant.

"A minute after midnight, anyone who is found wondering twenty feet near the border will be killed in sight, no questions asked."

"You can't do that!" Katie shouted, slamming her hands against the ping pong table.

"We can, and we will," Alexander said, looking at her with bored eyes. "Believe me, we have more important things to do than worry about hooligans running wild, yet here we are. We don't care if you don't like the rules, they are set, no exceptions."

"I'm afraid you can't do that, my boy," Chiron said, not lowering his glace when Alexander turned to look at him.

Camille let out an irritated sigh, but she said nothing as Alexander and Chiron continued with their stare down. It was deadly silent for a whole minute before Alexander spoke.

"Is that so?" He mused. "Mmmh. Let's not fool ourselves, now, Chiron. You've heard of me. You know exactly who I am, and you know I will do as I say because no one will stop me."

Annabeth stood, catching Ethan and Brenda doing the same from the corner of her eye. She didn't care who he was, or who he thought he was, but he was not going to come into her home, and start bossing people around. He was no one to tell her what she could, or could not do. She'd be damn if she let that happen. "Do you want to bet on that?"

He didn't look at her. "Are you so foolish as to try?"

She reached forward to grab him, to hurt him, but Chiron's shout of "NO!" brought her up short. She glance back at him. He shook his head, and said "No, just…just let him."

A thin smiled lifted at the corner of his mouth. "Good choice." He grasped his companion's wrist before speaking. "My brother is arriving tomorrow, and he's not in a good mood, so I suggest you don'" Not even a second later, they were gone.

Annabeth whirled around to face Chiron. "What in Hades' name?"

Chiron sighed. "Who you just meet was Alexander Rivoury. He's-"

Annabeth frown. That name sounded familiar.

"He's a favorite of Chaos," Chiron was saying, though she didn't miss the way he seemed to change what he was about to say. "That makes him believe he has…a right he does not have, I think." He hesitated. "Just try not to get into a fight with him. You're all dismissed." He left without saying another word.

Annabeth's mind was working a hundred miles per hour. She was almost 80% sure she had heard the name Alexander Rivoury somewhere before, but she couldn't remember who he was…or why he was important enough to make Chiron back down, and accept his will. She would not accept the "He's a favorite of Chaos" as an explanation. There was a story behind this Alexander Rivoury, which she would find out.

True to their word, the unfriendly guests had step up a border a hundred feet away from Thalia's pine tree. No one was able to pass without meeting unfriendly faces. It was nearly impossible to tell who was who, though, because not once did they take their hoods off in the thirty-two hours since their arrival.

Alexander and Camille were not seen since.

"I don't get it," Brenda said.

"I don't either," Annabeth said.

"Chiron hasn't explained it to you?" The girl questioned, her eyebrows raising to her hairline.

Annabeth pursed her lips. "He hasn't spoken to me about this, if that's what you mean."

Brenda eyed her for a minute before shrugging. She knew how sensitive Annabeth was when she didn't know something, and she knew better than to push it. She stood. "I'm going to the arena. You coming?"

She shook her head. She had caught Grover at the edge of her vision, and wanted to speak to him. She knew he would never approach her while she was talking to Brenda. "I'll catch up with you in a minute." She held up her apple. "I'm eating."

Brenda waved her firewalled, leaving her sitting in the grass alone. Annabeth stood, making her way to where Grover stood between the trees talking to a satyr.

"Grover!" She called.

Grover looked at her, then excused himself to the satyr, then made his way in her direction.

"Hey," he said, almost warily.

She smiled. "Hi." They didn't do much talking now a days. He was always busy, and almost never at Camp. "I was wondering…Do you know anything about the Children of Chaos? Have you heard anything?"

Grover shook his head. "None of the spirits want to speak about them, if they know anything."

"Oh." She was disappointed, but running a mental list of people who could help her figure out who this mysterious people where.

The gods were out of the question.

But maybe her mother…

"I was warn, though," Grover said shifting nervously.

"About?" She pressed.

He shook his head sadly. "The Children of Chaos bring death, and chaos. If Chaos send his children…that means things are worse than we imagine."

Something about his expression, the way he said that, the look in his eye…it send a feeling of dread crawl up her spine.