Chapter 11

Hey guys, I'm so sorry, I know it's a day late, please don't kill me. And I just want to say that I am loving the reviews and, hopefully by now you realize I update once a week, on the weekends. Please don't ask me to and I quote "Write the next chapter already." I have a life, school and other stuff. BUT that doesn't mean no more reviews. I am very glad that many of you are commenting on how you like Dark! Percy. Mmmmmmm… I got nothing else to say here, really, So on with the chapter. :)

Dark, rain-filled clouds quickly gathered over camp Half-Blood, blotting out the sun and the sky, with them came ominous gloom and the foreboding sense of destruction. Shadows collected at the base of Half-Blood hill, growing darker by the second, slowly opening a portal to Erebus's realm.

A cool breeze swept through the cabins, pulling across the sound of a conch shell, which signaled a meeting of all half-bloods. The gust picked up leaves and swirled them around, as they twisted and turned they flew by Half-bloods who were all fighting the icy wind, making their sorry way to the via principia.

Outside the great wooden doors that were adorned with carvings of famous heroes, almost all the campers stood, 300 in all, both Roman and Greek. Huddled against the cold, they waited for the doors to open, allowing entry, away from the vicious, frosty gale.

As the great entrance opened, the demi-gods rushed forward – pushing, shoving, fighting, jostling, shunting, elbowing, heaving, moving, pulling, and scratching – attempting to escape the blustery weather.

Inside the Via Principia, the half-bloods fanned out into their different cabin groups. Their cabin leaders, two for each of the cabins – one Greek and one Roman - stepped to the middle of the room and walked up to a marble table that was set up.

Chiron, Lupa, Annabeth, Jason, Hazel and Frank were gathered at the head of the table, after a few moments of hurried conversation, Annabeth and Jason stepped forward.

"Everyone, please calm down and be quiet, we have something to announce." Annabeth said magnifying her voice over the crowd's constant chatter. When the talking had generally stopped, Annabeth and Jason shared one long look, before Jason started to speak, "As I'm sure most of you have heard, today, a certain ally is coming to help us in a war that we think may be coming." Jason stopped, grimacing as if it caused him physical pain to admit this. "The ally is Strazio."

This statement caused an outbreak of whispers and murmurs. Chiron, seeing that the campers were talking slammed his left front hoof down on the table causing a resounding clap of hoof on marble. Annabeth stepped forward, "He is coming to camp today and we suspect it will be soon, due to the lack of sunshine. It is said he prefers the dark."

Yet another, louder this time, epidemic of quiet talking endured before Lupa snarled effectively shutting everyone up.

"We want all of you to be on guard, DO NOT trust any of the forgotten warriors, particularly Strazio. For obvious reasons, do not try and mess with them. They will not appreciate it. According to Lady Artemis and her hunters, some of the legends about the Forgotten warriors and predominantly myths on Strazio."

Once again a, even louder, eruption of conversation broke through. No matter how much Chiron, Lupa, Jason and Annabeth tried to bring order, they kept up the chatter and gossip. They was simply too much to ask of an overly ADHD crowd of demi-gods, to stay quiet.

After about five minutes of constant chatter, Frank and hazel exchanged glances, after a quick conversation, Frank turned into a dragon and roared, shocking everyone so much they stopped talking and stared at him. Frank was well known for being a gentle person. He rarely, if ever found the need to scare others into shutting up.

It was then that the reality of the situation hit the demi-gods. Another war, one they might not win. An uncertain future, there was no vain hope resting on a prophecy. The situation was so bad the gods were calling in the help of a well-known killer, rapist and, to use the horrible cliché, terrorist.

Hazel stood up in front of the demi-gods and evenly stated, "We must all remain calm, let's all go out in an orderly fashion and wait by Half-blood hill. I can feel the shadows stirring, like before a child of death shadow walks but on a larger scale and for longer. He is coming."

The demi-gods all stared wide eyed, before moving out of the Via Principia, almost in a state of shock. Not one demi-god talked, they all had clenched jaws and set faces, they stood in the cool wind waiting for Strazio and the Forgotten warriors. They were like zombies, it was as if another being had taken over their bodies.

Annabeth and Jason went off to message the gods and Chiron, Lupa, Frank – now, not a dragon - and Hazel stood with the demi-gods, waiting.

Line break of space

Strazio readied the shadows around him. All the Forgotten warriors could Shadow walk but because of the magical borders of camp, he would shadow walk them all with the assistance of Nico. He did not wish to leave half of a Forgotten warrior behind. It would ruin his reputation.

The Forgotten gathered together in a complicated formation that to anyone else would look random but to them it showed rank, power and abilities. Their rank was according to their power, abilities and skills.

As the shadows swirled around them, they opened a portal to darkness, the way into Lord Erebus's realm, the fastest, most advanced way of shadow transport. Creating a Portal was hard, used up a lot of power, took a long time and wasn't the most subtle of entrances but it had its advantages, it was impossible to detect at night, it can get through any magical border and was the fastest way to move a large group of people in one go.

The shadows engulfed the forgotten, pulling them through the portal of darkness to Camp Half-Blood.

Line break of more space

The demi-god campers waited in silence before the shadow of Half-blood hill. They watched as the shadow steadily darkened, till it was almost pure black. Slowly shapes began to emerge, first only the shadow of a shadow, which whispered there may be something solid evolving from the darkness.

Like a wraith slowly taking physical form, humanoid shapes formed from the gloom, which by now looked almost mist like, except for the fact it was not white or grey mist, but pure black.

Soon the campers were able to make out details; hooded cloaks, weapons and body shapes. Slowly but surely the Forgotten formed out of the misty shadows. Strazio stood at the front, flanked by Luke and Nico (Whom were, obviously, like the rest of the forgotten hooded).

He walked casually out of the murky darkness, the rest of the forgotten followed and then took a complicated formation behind him, Luke and Nico. He smirked arrogantly at the campers, who were all staring at them as if they'd come from outer space, and with such different lives, they might has well have.

After about ten seconds of continuous staring, Strazio raised an eyebrow under his hood. Stepped forward and said "I presume this is the welcoming committee. Do you have a leader I can speak to?"

Hazel and Frank stepped out of the assemblage and walked up to Strazio. They stopped two meters away and shared a glance.

"I am Frank, god of shape shifting, and this is my wife, Hazel, goddess of precious metals. We welcome you to camp Half-blood."

"As you know, I am Strazio, and these are my Forgotten warriors. I give you a word of warning, I will not tolerate anything that I deem unacceptable, and this includes no pranking, no attempted murder, and above all, no annoying questions."

Most of the campers looked rather wry at that proclamation, the older ones though, accepted his statement, knowing there was nothing they could do to change it.

Annabeth and Jason pushed through the crowd. They walked past Hazel and Frank, neither acknowledging their presence.

"Hey, I am Jason, god of lightning and Heroes, this is my wife, Annabeth, goddess of architecture."

"Good for you, Could I speak to someone who has actual intelligence, I do not feel like being consending today."

Jason stared at Strazio in a state of shock. No one had ever spoken to him like that before. He was the son of Jupiter, the greatest hero of all time, the leader of the seven. How dare this cloaked coward come to his camp and insult him.

"I am a son of Jupiter, the greatest Hero of all time, treat me with respect." He demanded.

Strazio laughed humorlessly. "You know nothing of heroes, kid. You are blind to the true nature of others and stuck in a fantasy that only lasts while you remain ignorant. For respect to be given, it must be gained, Hero" He spat out the last word mockingly.

"How dare you suggest that!" A booming voice rang across Camp Half-blood.

Finished another chapter. YAY. Hope you like it. Please send me in your reviews and tell me what you think, so I can make it even better. Also, I'm not sure if any of you have noticed but Thalia could never have been the one of the great prophecy as it specifically says "A single choice shall end his days" It is referring to a guy NOT a girl. Another thing is in the Prophecy of the seven it says the world must fall – which could mean the world as in the Gaea being the earth which is often referred to as the world or it could mean the hidden 'world' of demi-gods could fall meaning the mist disappears. Did you come to any other conclusions other than the obvious? Tell me, and Review.

*Darkmoon111*