Author's note: I don't own any of the characters. They all belong to Rick Riordan. Go to Athlon, Chaos' Commander of the Universe. Read and review. Then badger the author to update. I highly recommend the story.

Chapter Eleven

Big Three Demigods

Nico sat in the shadows, watching a nearby monster camp. The thought that there was an organized group of them made him and his cousins uneasy. They had only been on their mission for a week and already there were so many incongruities in their behavior.

He watched them for a while longer, learning their routine, before he slipped farther into the shadows and emerged at the campsite he and his cousins had set up. Percy was on watch and barely glanced at him before going back to scanning their surroundings, alert for any other movement that could signal a threat.

Nico gave him a weary nod before heading over to his sleeping bag and curling up inside it. It was only a few hours shy of dawn and he knew he needed all the sleep he could get. Percy was aware of his cousin's actions as he sat waiting for the dawn, protecting his two cousins as he had all of his life.

While part of him drifted, another part thought back to the winter solstice. He thought of the other demigods, people so different from himself that he was curious about them. Many called his history and the history of his cousins to be tragic, but they had never really felt the effects of it. He and Nico might feel a pang in their chests and sadness if they thought of their birth mothers and Thalia might feel a pang of betrayal and anger, but their fathers' immortal wives had filled the gap completely, so they rarely thought to what they were told they were missing out on.

Percy was curious as to the histories of the campers at Camp Half-Blood. The gods and goddesses refused to discuss it and he knew the campers themselves had a fifty-fifty chance of revealing it themselves, but Percy couldn't help but wonder anyway. He had always hoped, as had his cousins, that someday they would be able to at least visit there, but it had always been too dangerous. Maybe now, since they had been revealed anyway, they would be able to visit and maybe teach.

He was slightly startled when he realized that dawn had come upon the camp during his musings. He stood and stretched, scanning his surroundings one last time before moving to wake Thalia. By silent agreement, they decided to let Nico sleep a little more. They weren't sure what to expect. Over the course of the last week, they had gone from seeing single monsters to larger and larger groups that were working more and more cohesively.

Percy sat near the fire, moving minimally to preserve strength while Thalia went to the nearby river to fill a bucket with water. While he waited, he stoked the fire and smiled at Hestia when she appeared and took over the job. Moments after she had, Thalia returned and proceeded to pour the contents of the bucket over Percy's head.

The instant she had, Percy began to feel better and strength returned to him. This was the primary reason he always had the early morning shift. A little water and he was as good as new. Hestia then flicked her wrist and a hot meal of bacon and eggs appeared before them, along with the soda each demigod preferred. The two demigods heard rustling as Nico stirred, most likely from the smell of food, and stuck his head out of his sleeping bag.

Breakfast was quiet as Hestia smiled and waited for them to finish so that they could give her the report she would take back to Olympus. Finally, they had all completely awoken and settled back to hear Nico's findings. "There's a camp about five miles away. Luckily, our safeguards are holding or they might have smelled us earlier. There are about 40-50 monsters and they act nothing like any monsters we've ever met. They're acting like an army unit. We need to take them out quickly. Here's an approximation of their routine."

He withdrew a piece of paper from his parka pocket and passed it to Thalia who scanned it and passed it to Percy. The spent the next few minutes devising a plan before packing up the camp and bowing to Hestia as she flashed back to Olympus. Within an hour of awakening, they were moving through the woods in the direction of the monsters' camp.

Once there, they spread out and nodded, splitting up to their prearranged positions as they waited for noon to come so that they could put their plan into motion. They decided to take naps. Once the time came, the plan was simple. The three would enter the camp at different points and take out the monsters using their weapons and powers.

It was accomplished easily with minimal injuries to Percy, Nico, and Thalia. They then moved away from the camp and headed in the direction of the monster tracks left by departing monsters. One thought rang through their minds as they walked. This is going to be a long mission.

Olympus

The Council sat watching as the champions of Olympus executed the plan that they had outlined to Hestia. Though it went well, the fathers of the demigods involved couldn't help but clench their thrones in worry, as did their wives. There was all around relief when they exited the cap with minimal damage. They had all just breathed a sigh of relief when the throne room doors opened and Chiron clopped in.

The Olympians had been expecting a visit from him for a few days now and weren't surprised by his entrance. Chiron bowed and asked, "My Lord, why have you not told any of us about your children sooner?" Zeus answered, "It was too dangerous. Their existence would be subject to constant threats if the wrong people knew about them. It was safer to keep knowledge of their existence limited. Besides, if they weren't here, Hades and Hestia might not have been granted thrones and they and the minor gods wouldn't have cabins at the camp."

Chiron was forced to acknowledge this truth, but before he could ask anything more, Zeus interrupted with, "The Council has decided that once they complete their mission, they will go to Camp Half-Blood for the summer. Do not tell anyone else, we are as yet uncertain as to when they will complete their hunt. That will be all."

Chiron bowed at the dismissal and left, leaving the gods once again staring at the screen displaying the three demigods. Poseidon sighed and said, "This is going to be a long few months."