All I can say in my defense is that…at least I didn't wait an ENTIRE year before I updated again? Sorry dudes and dudettes, imma be honest and say that I kinda forgot about this story and this site for a while and then I just got lazy. But here we go a new chapter.

Enjoy!

Chapter 12

Percy's POV

I spend the rest of the afternoon with Leah and the rest of the pack. At first, I was demonstrating my powers like I did earlier for Leah, I'll admit, I was showing off a bit. The guys were appropriately surprised and awed by what I showed them, but nobody's reaction was better than Seth's was. His childlike enthusiasm was refreshing, and it was something that I haven't seen in a while, since the second war began. I don't think that I have smiled or laughed as much as I did this afternoon since the end of the war. I'm beginning to see why the Fates picked this girl out for me. Leah and this tribe have brought more of my old self back than I thought would ever be possible, especially so soon.

Around dinner time, I decided that it would be best to head back to Charlie's. I grab ahold of Leah's hand and lead her to where Bella's truck is to say goodbye. However, before I could say anything, Leah pulls me into a tight hug and I quickly return it. She's holding me tighter than a girl her size should be able to, but I guess that is a part of her shifter abilities.

"I had a great time today Percy." Leah mumbles into my shoulder, with her arms still wrapped around me. I chuckle lightly and pull her tighter against me.

"I did too." I replied quietly.

Abruptly, Leah lets go of me and pulls out her phone and places it in my hand. I look at her with confusion for a couple seconds before I catch on that she wants me to put my number into it. I smile brightly and pull out my own phone and give it to her. After a couple seconds, we both now have each other's numbers and consequently, a way to contact the other. I linger for a few moments more, not wanting to leave the reservation. I can tell Leah feels the same way as she stays where she is, unmoving, looking into my eyes.

A minute later, I unwillingly break eye contact with her and take a step back. I open the door to the rusty, red truck and give her a smile and a wave before starting up the beast. As I put the truck in reverse and pull away, I look at her one more time and she returns the wave I gave her. I smile one more time before driving away.

The soft smile doesn't leave my face during the journey back to the Swan house. I truly did have the best time today. First, I unexpectedly make friends with a family of vegetarian, mortal vampires. Then I spend a couple hours with Leah Clearwater. Those couple hours were explanation enough for a fantastic afternoon, but it didn't end there. Next, I made friends with a pack of wolf shapeshifters, who were actually Leah's family and included Leah herself. Now I was happy and heading back to my place of residence.

Even though all of this was unexpected, it was still good. I still miss my mom and Paul and that probably won't change. I also miss Thalia and Nico, but I was used to not seeing them for long stretches of time considering Thalia's work with the hunters and Nico running errands for his father. And lastly, I still miss all the other demigods, especially the ones, like the Seven, that I had gotten so close to during the times of war, but after everything, we all needed a break to mourn lost friends and to learn how to live a normal life again. I don't think anyone would begrudge me mourning and learning here in Washington, away from all the bad memories of death and destruction, just as I would never deny them the same.

My musings were stopped as I finally arrived back at Charlie's from the reservation. The first thing I noticed was that the police cruiser was absent, but in its place was a shiny, silver Volvo that must belong to whoever drove Bella home.

I walk in with the same smile still present on my face, ready to greet Bella and, most likely, Edward, but the words died on my lips and I saw the stony and worried expressions on Bella and Edward's faces. My lips tugged into a frown, losing the smile, as I prepared myself for whatever it was they were about to tell me.

"What's going on?" I ask the both of them.

It was Bella that answered me. "Someone was in my room." My worry was replaced with anger.

"What?" I ask quietly.

It was Edward that spoke this time. "When I came to drop Bella off, I noticed a strange, vampire's scent around the house that was strongest in her bedroom. It is not one that I have smelled before and I can only assume that they meant her harm."

"I've also noticed some of my stuff is missing," Bella said, "shirts and stuff like that." She exchanged a look with Edward. "We're not sure if that's related or not but it's the only reason I could think of that someone would be up there."

"Besides harming you." Edward said darkly. All three of us remained quiet for a short time after that comment.

"Well what are we going to do about it?" I asked after a bit.

"We?" Edward asked.

I glare at him. "Yes. We. I'm not going to let my cousin get hurt. If there's something I can do, then I want to help."

"There might be nothing you can do, Percy." Edward said. "Vampires are fierce creatures, and most would not hesitate to tear you apart."

I steady my gaze on him again. "I've met and survived worse."

After a few tense moments, Edward finally mentioned that they needed to go tell his family about this. I agreed to let them go and stay behind as long as Bella caught me up on what was discussed after she got back.

After Bella and Edward headed back to the Cullen house, I went upstairs to my room. I plopped down on my bed face first and sighed audibly. I should have known that everything that happened today was too good to be true. The Fates couldn't let me life get too comfy after all, they just had to make things "interesting".

After a few moments of mumbling and grumbling about how much of a joke my life is, I fell into a fitful sleep.

My dreams were anything but peaceful, but when are demigod dreams ever restful. The first thing I noticed in my unconsciousness was that I was standing in a large, open field surrounded by trees. There were two groups of people on either side of the field but neither one was moving any closer to the other and the group on my right was significantly more numerous than the group on my left. The next thing I noticed was who the groups were, one of them any ways. The group on my left, the smaller one, was the Cullen family standing together in a more threatening stance than what I saw them in earlier, but that was nothing compared to the animalistic snarling and dangerous expressions encompassing the other group. I grew uneasy. If these two groups started fighting, there was no way the Cullen's would win. The animalistic group was too dangerous and their numbers too large and once I noticed their red eyes, I knew they would also be stronger since the Cullen's mentioned that red marked the eyes of a human drinker. But just when I though all hope to be lost, there was movement near the tree line. On the side of the Cullen's, a pack of supernaturally large wolves emerged and formed a group around the Cullen's, a show of their allegiance. Now that both sides were more evenly matched, I felt a bit better. But just as both sides made to lunge towards the other, I woke up.

I shot up in my bed, and it took me a couple seconds to realize that there was a pale hand still on my shoulder. I followed the arm up and met the onyx black eyes of my cousin, Nico.

I scrambled out of bed and in the process, Nico's hand fell off my shoulder and back to his side.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him.

Nico gave me the glare that usually meant he was happy to see me. "Why do I suddenly need a reason to see you. Maybe I was just checking up on you."

"Because you have a reason for everything that you do, Nico."

He glared at me again, but this time, it was a glare of annoyance. "That's dumb." Nico sighed suddenly. "You're right of course but that's still dumb reasoning."

I smirk at the victory. It's not every day I get one up on either of my cousins.

"My father sent me." Nico said to start, and I suddenly lost the smirk on my face. If Hades sent Nico here, then that meant that something was wrong. "He said there's something wrong in Seattle, that too many people are dying at once."

"And what does he want me to do about it?" I asked confusedly. Death was Nico's area of expertise. I don't really know what I could do to help that.

Nico began talking again. "Father said that it was something supernatural. Vampires, but not our kind, the mortal ones. He said that you knew some and that you might know what's going on."

I look at my cousin in disbelief. "Okay number one, I just met those vampires today, how do the gods already know about that. Number two, even if I do know a couple vampires, that doesn't mean that I know anything about what's going on in Seattle."

"So… you don't know anything?" Nico asked me.

I shook my head, "No, I don't."

"Would the vampires that you know, know anything?"

"I don't know, Nico!" I said exasperatedly. "Like I said, I just met them today. They didn't mention anything about any more of their kind in Seattle, but it's not as if we exchanged every piece of information that we had."

"Well, either way, these vampires are killing too many people. They are drawing too much attention and while they might not be Greek or Roman, if people know that anything supernatural exists, they may begin looking harder. Father tasked me to do something about it and I need your help to do that."

We stare at each other for a moment, daring the other to talk. I lost of course. "Why do you need my help? Why not someone else?"

Nico sighs. "Because I don't make friends easily and I don't really trust many people. You are both a friend and one that I trust. Plus, you were in the area and Father mentioned you knew some vampires, so, you were the obvious choice." He rushed through the second part of his statement.

I smile. "Wow Death Breath, that was almost nice. I wouldn't believe it if you weren't right in front of me."

He glares at me again. "Shut up. I'm not nice, Seaweed Brain."

We both froze for a second. Nobody had called me that since Annabeth. It was strange to hear it coming from someone else's mouth. I tilt my head to the side, running the nickname through again experimentally. My chest didn't tighten, there's no pain. I guess one good thing did come from the happiness today; I'm healing.

Nico takes my silence for sadness though and starts talking rapidly. "I'm sorry, Percy! I didn't mean to call you that. It just slipped out! I didn't mean to bring up Anna-… I-I mean I didn't mean to bring her up. I know you don't like to be reminded. I didn't mean to, I'm sorry. You know that I would never –" I hold up my hand and he stops talking and looks at me with a worried expression on his face.

"I know you didn't do it on purpose, Nico," I say reassuringly. "It's been good for me here in Forks. I'm better. I can hear her name. I can talk about her and hear others do the same." I smile at him softly. "I'm okay. I promise."

Nico lets out a huge breath and the tension that was in his shoulders leaves his body. "Good. I'm glad, Percy. I'm still sorry though." I smile at him again and assure him that it's okay and I'm not mad at him.

"So, what would I need to do to help you?" I ask him, trying to get back to the subject we were on before all of the awkwardness started.

My cousin clears his throat and gathers himself. "Well, first I would try to talk to the vampires to see what they know. They might have information that could help us." I nod my head, that makes sense.

"Then I guess we would go to Seattle to scout out the vamps. We would need to see what we're up against before we do anything else."

I nod again. "You're right about talking to the Cullen's first though. They don't seem the type to just let something like this go without saying something. In fact, this seems like something they would fight against–" I stop talking as I remember the dream I had before Nico woke me up. The Cullen's WERE fighting against the vampires.

I relay my dream to Nico and his face grows even more solemn. "We need to talk to them now. That feral-ness that you saw in those vampires is a classic sign of a newborn mortal vamp." Seeing my confusion at the term, Nico explains. "That means that the vampire was just turned. It's when they are at their strongest and most bloodthirsty. From you dream, it sounds like someone is trying to build an army of them."

"Wow, that sounds really bad."

"Understatement, Percy."

I call Bella as soon as Nico and I had finished talking. It would have been good if Nico could shadow travel us to the Cullen's house, but since he had never been there, and I couldn't remember the address, there's no telling where we would end up if we tried. Bella was sufficiently confused when the only information I gave her was that I needed to talk to the Cullen's urgently and I needed their address. She offered to come pick me up, but I assured her that I had a way there and that I would be there in a couple minutes. I hung up on her before she had a chance to ask how I could make it there so quickly.

As soon as I was off the phone with Bella, I told Nico the address and he shadow traveled us to directly in front of their house. When we landed, I immediately doubled over with nausea. I had forgotten how unpleasant that sensation was. After I was well enough to walk, Nico and I made our way to the front door where Carlisle Cullen was standing in the open doorway before we even made it on the porch. We were ushered in quietly, into the sitting room from before and everyone turned their gaze to Nico and looked at him with confusion.

I decided to be nice and clear up everyone's confusion. "This is my cousin Nico." Nico gave a small wave to the room. I notice their questioning looks and figure they're wondering if he is a demigod too. "Nico is a son of Hades." I pause a minute to let everyone digest the news. "He came to me this afternoon about a vampire problem in Seattle?" I see the realization dawn on everyone in the room.

It was Carlisle that spoke first. "We were just discussing that issue before you arrived. We believe there may be a rogue vampire wreaking havoc."

Nico started shaking his head before Carlisle even finished his sentence. "It's not just one rogue vampire. Our intelligence says that there are many vampires." He shares a look with me before continuing. "We also believe that these vampires are newborns that someone is gathering for an army."

Jasper was the one to look up sharply. "How do you know about newborns and why do you think this vampire is making a newborn army?"

Nico looked at the blond southerner. "My father is the god of the Underworld. I have met many interesting beings there including some mortal vampires that were created to be in one of those armies. I have also met mortal vampires that created these armies. And I believe the situation in Seattle to be a similar one because of a dream Percy had."

At that statement, everyone in the room turned their eyes to me.

"One thing about demigods is that we have these dreams. They're not normal dreams and they usually have a prophetic element to them."

Bella interrupted me. "You have dreams about the future?"

I nod my head. "Sometimes. I think I had one when I took a nap after you and Edward left. At first, I thought it was normal, just a byproduct of meeting you guys today, but after Nico and I started talking, I realized it was probably something more."

Edward leaned forward, "Can you tell us about your dream?"

I nod my head again. "I saw your family on one side of this huge, open field and a large group of vampires on the other side. They were basically foaming at the mouth to attack you guys and you were all ready to fight them too. I was worried that they were going to win until the pack of wolf shapeshifter from the reservation came through the tree line and joined your side. But just as both sides were about to attack the other, the dream ended, and I woke up."

The room was silent after I finished my explanation.

Jasper was the first one to break the silence. "But why would there be a newborn army here? They were popular back in the day in the South for fights over territory and food, but for the most part, that has been settled and I have never heard of an army made this far North."

Nico spoke up next. "Well it sounds like they're meant to fight you all, so, have you guys made any enemies mad enough that they would take revenge like this?"

The room went silent again and the Cullens and Bella looked around at each other. Finally, one by one, they all shook their heads in the negative.

Nico sighed dejectedly. "Well you guys need to figure it out soon because if you don't, then your government is going to get involved." He looks at Bella before continuing. "And I'm sure you know why that would be a bad idea." The Cullens all looked grave at this statement, but I was confused, since when is there a vampire government. I look at Nico questioningly and he shakes his head and gives me a look that says he'll tell me later.

Suddenly, Bella gasps.

"Victoria."

So, yeah, I know that I'm speeding up the time line a little bit in this story but come on, it's fanfiction for a reason.

Also, I just want to throw out there that I'm thankful for all of y'all sticking with this story even though the author sucks and doesn't update as often as she should. To be fair, though, college is kicking my butt and I'm about to start a full-time internship. At least I didn't die? Nonetheless, you guys deserve a new chapter, so I hope that you guys enjoyed it!

Please review! Your reviews are what makes this fun!