Disclaimer: I do not own any PJO or HoO characters, dialogue, or anything of the sort that belongs to Rick.

Early gift for you guys.

Ch. 21 The Beginning

Artemis's POV:

Perseus had disappeared with Thalia almost a year ago now. I tried to check back at his camp, but it wasn't there anymore. Zeus was beyond furious that his daughter was taken and had order search parties, but Perseus along with Thalia and his camp had just vanished into thin air. Athena mourned the loss of Annabeth. She had been Athena's pride, her favorite daughter. Athena had spoken highly of her and always brought her up whenever we talked.

A lot had happened in the past year. The camp had been attacked this past summer in the Battle of the Labyrinth. Many demigods had been revealed as spies. The camp had been lucky because Nico and Bianca DiAngelo showed up as the campers were almost overwhelmed. They summoned an army of the undead and helped kill or capture monsters and demigods alike. They were able to collapse the labyrinth with the help of Daedalus.

We were all discussing preparations for the war which was fast approaching. At least, we would be discussing preparations if my father would stop being paranoid about everything.

"How dare you raise your children in the underworld without telling us?!"

"I don't see why that matters. I'm not allowed to come to Olympus until winter solstice anyway." Hades's reply was much calmer than Zeus's.

"You can't ignore the Ancient Laws either, Hades!"

"I didn't. Thanatos raised them while I visited them."

Zeus looked like he wanted to continue arguing, but thankfully Athena interrupted.

"Father, I know that you would like to further interrogate Hades; but we have more important matters to discuss."

"Yes, you're right. Let's get to the focus of this meeting. As you all know, the camp was invaded this past summer; and our children were attacked by other demigods who had allied themselves with Kronos. Chiron had also informed me that many of the unclaimed campers in the Hermes have disappeared. He fears that they may have gone to Kronos's side."

This news made many on the council worry. The camp had been dwindling in numbers already, and to hear that more campers left had put the council on edge. The campers had only lost a few during the battle last summer, but many had suffered injuries. Dionysus, Hephaestus, and Demeter all lost children in the battle. The Ares, Apollo, and Aphrodite kids had sustained the most injuries. Now was not the best time to lose campers.

"With Thalia still missing since according to Hades, she hasn't died yet. We are also missing the child of prophecy. Hades has two children, but they were both born around the WWII era which makes them both well over the age of sixteen and ineligible to be the child of prophecy. They, however, are both quite skilled and seemed to have mastered their powers; so, Hades, will you agree to help us? And father, will you put aside your paranoia for once and let him help us?"

Hades agreed and seemed to be impressed that a daughter of Zeus would stand up to her father and ask for his help. Father seemed to have more trouble with answering though. He didn't agree until Hera squeezed his arm and glared at him. Hades looked please with the outcome. I guess he rarely, if ever, got to witness his little brother agree to something he clearly didn't like.

"It also appears that many of the minor gods do not care to support us in this war."

We, except for Hades and Hestia it seemed, were all shocked by this news.

"How's that even possible, Athena. Shouldn't they be on our side?"

Athena was about to answer me when Zeus interrupted.

"That's preposterous! They are to be loyal to Olympus and the Council!"

Zeus slammed his fist on the arm of his throne as if what he said had just become law by that action alone.

"It makes sense, Zeus." It was Hestia who spoke this time. "Think about it. All of their children are crammed into the Hermes cabin even if they are claimed because you have refused to let them have cabins of their own. You have also either ignored or belittled them in some way or another. They would probably help us if Zeus begs them. Can you do that Zeus?"

Father looked like someone had punched him in the nuts. Was he seriously going to let his pride stop him from winning this war? Hestia looked at Zeus's face and let out a sigh of disappointment. Zeus shook his head as though to forget Hestia's idea. I don't even know why I had thought anything different would happen. Father would rather save his pride and perish than lose it to survive.

"Now, onto the next order of things: we need to find Thalia. She is to play a key role in this upcoming war. We must find my daughter."

~After the events at Mt. Othyrs~

Thalia's POV:

I woke up aching all over. My body hurt anytime that I moved it. Where the Hades was I?

"Hey Thalia. Glad to see you awake."

The voice sounded like Angela, and she handed me a square of ambrosia. The soreness left my body enough for me to sit up, and then she handed me a glass of nectar.

"I'll go let him know you're awake."

Angela left, giving me a chance to take in my surroundings. I looked liked I was in the infirmary cabin at Camp Half-Blood. There were some differences though. Curtains surrounded each bed, and the cabinets were much larger with half of the shelves contain ambrosia and nectar. The rest of the shelves had different herbs and plants. There was a window across from my bed. I could see a group of people sparring in pairs. Just watching them made me want to go out there and fight with someone.

Before I could think about getting up and leaving, Angela returned with a brown haired boy with light blue eyes and the god Perseus right behind them.

"She's up, Daniel. Check her over so we can get everything started." Angela said before turning to me. "This is Daniel. He's a son of Asclepius, and our best medical doctor."

Daniel let out a sigh of exasperation, but I saw his face flush at the compliment. He took out a small flashlight and shined in my eyes, blinding me for a quick second.

"Do you remember your full name? And if you do, state it please."

"Thalia."

"Last name."

"It's Thalia, just Thalia."

i glared at him, and he glared right back. He finally removed the flashlight from my eyes. He put on a stethoscope and pressed it against my chest.

"Alright. Any soreness still?"

"No. I feel fine. Where am I, and why am I here anyways?"

"You're at our camp Thalia, the camp for children of the minor gods and goddesses. I'll let Perseus and Angela answer why you're here." He put up the stethoscope. "She's completely fine from what I'm able to tell."

He left the room but not before whispering something to both Angela and Perseus. It made me suspicious, especially if it had something to do about me. Perseus said something back, and Daniel left. I wanted to ask what they were talking about, but Perseus started talking before I could.

"I brought you here to help you prepare for the war. Like it or not, you are the child of the prophecy and have the power to destroy or save Olympus since you sacrificed the Ophiotaurus. I brought you here because many of the children of the minor deities do not care for the Olympians; you'll need to win them over if you want to win this war." He turned to Angela. "I trust that you'll show her around."

He left, leaving Angela and I in the cabin.

"Are you ready for a tour?"

"Sure."

The camp was pretty similar to Camp Half-Blood except that they had a lot more cabins. As Angela show me around the camp, many of the campers either whispered to each other or glared at me.

"Perseus wasn't kidding when he said that I would have to win them over, was he?"

"No, many of these campers are actually from Camp Half-Blood; so most of them were shoved into the Hermes cabin and unclaimed until they came here. All of the minor gods and goddesses felt that it was unnecessary to claim their children because they would still be stuck in the Hermes cabin. Everyone here doesn't resent the Olympians like their parents do, but they don't exactly like them either which extends to their children."

If I wanted to help save Olympus, I had to convince all of these neglected demigods that they could trust the Olympians or the children of the Olympians at the very least. This was going to be tough. I heard a banging sound, and everyone started heading to an open space.

"Time for lunch. Perseus found a gong in Japan and decided that it would be a great thing to use to signal meal times. He figured it wasn't loud enough and had my siblings charm it so it would be louder."

Angela led me over to the open space which dozens of picnic tables.

"Find somewhere to sit. It won't really matter where, and just ask for what you want. The wind spirits will bring you a plate; and like at Camp Half-Blood, put a portion of your meal into the fire."

Angela left and went to a table where assumed her friends were because Daniel was sitting there too. It was pretty cool that they didn't have to sit with their siblings if they didn't want to. I found an empty table because it didn't seem like anyone really wanted me to sit with them. I saw used to sitting by myself because everyone was separated by parent at Camp Half-Blood, but it felt weird being excluded from everyone when I didn't have to be. I requested a cheeseburger, fires, and a milkshake. I sacrificed half of my cheeseburger and sat back down. I felt a lot of stares directed at me as I ate. This was going to be tough.

~A week after the Battle of the Labyrinth~

I had been here for almost six months. Perseus had let me stay in the main house while I was here. It was hard to convince people to at least trust me and even harder to earn their respect. Angela being my friend helped a lot though. Everyone here either liked her or respected her, and she was practically Perseus's second-in-command. A lot of the younger children who had never been to Camp Half-Blood seemed to like me easily enough though, so it was a start.

I had morning lessons and afternoon activities with the other campers and then trained with Perseus at night. He was an excellent teacher. He helped me improve my reflexes, strength, and stamina. His double-bladed spear was a challenge, and he used one end to attack and the other to defend. He also wore his shield on his back which I thought was odd at first until I was able to get behind him and realized that I couldn't attack him from behind without leaving my entire body open to attack right after. I tried doing the same thing as he had been doing the next night, but I had tired pretty quickly.

Then, there were the times when he didn't spar and focused on my demigod abilities instead. It was really easy to use my abilities now, and they were a lot stronger now. I had severely injured Perseus the first time. The campers were not pleased to hear about that.

We were by a lake, and Perseus had asked me what aspects of Zeus's powers I had. I told him that I could manipulate electric currents. When he asked about aerokinesis, I told him that I wasn't sure. I didn't want to tell him that I, a daughter of Zeus, had a fear of heights. He didn't say anything else, but I assumed that we would eventually come back around to it.

"Does it usually exhaust your energy when you call down a bolt of lightning?"

"Sometimes. Definitely if its a powerful bolt."

"Call one down now, the more powerful the better, and direct it at me."

"Are you sure?"

"Don't worry about a thing, Thalia. I'm a god, so I'll be able to handle it. I want to see where you're at power-wise."

"If you say so." I muttered under my breath.

I stood back and focused on drawing electrical currents toward me. It felt a lot easier to do then it had been previously. Once I felt like I had gathered enough, I focused on summoning the electricity down all at once and aimed it at Perseus. I didn't realize how much I had collected until I felt myself get blasted back. When I got back up, the grass had scorch marks in multiple areas; and Perseus was on the ground with a hole in his stomach and burn marks on his arms, neck, and legs. His stomach had blood pouring out, and an electrical current kept surging over the hole.

"Great start, but you might want to get Daniel." Perseus said with a bloody smile.

After that incident, Perseus had me practice on straw dummies. We started off with small bolts and gradually increased the size and blast radius. We also went through ways that I could spread out the lightning to hit multiple people at once. The power from the Ophiotaurus made using my demigod abilities a lot easier and a lot more powerful than they used to be. He had me learn how to focus electricity around my fists and feet. He had taught me different ways to use my spear: how to trip people, how to force them to lower their guard, how to get them to approach you. He had me learn the basics of Taekwondo and Muay Thai.

Right now, Perseus and I were sparring. I charged at him and thrust my spear at his feet at the last second. I jumped up and spun my body into a kick aimed at his head. Perseus blocked the kick and used his left hand to jab his spear at my body, forcing me to let go of my spear. I realized my mistake a second too late when Perseus kicked my chest and swept my legs out from under me with his spear. Once I was on my back, Perseus had his foot on my stomach and the tip of his spear at my throat.

"You're getting better." He said as he helped me get up.

"It doesn't seem like it."

"Thalia, you seem to forget that you're wearing your shield on your back; and jumping into th air with that weight is not an easy feat."

He was right. I had taken up the habit of wearing my shield on my back like he did whenever we sparred. I felt proud of myself.

"That's enough for tonight. Get some rest, and I'll see you back here tomorrow."

I went back to my room in the main house. I took a quick shower and went straight to sleep.

When I woke up the next morning, I felt sore all over. I always ached the day after sparring with Perseus. I put on a Green Day shirt and jeans. I really liked that about this camp. I didn't have to wear a certain kind of clothing. I went to get breakfast and saw that Angela and Daniel were already eating breakfast. I had a feeling that they liked each other because they were always around each other and stared at the other person when they thought the other one wasn't looking. They were just looking at each other in their own little world. They didn't seem notice me when I sat down. As adorable as it was watching them look each other in the eyes, I was getting bored with the quiet.

"Morning." I said.

They jumped and turned away from each other, blushing.

"What actives are planned for today?" I directed my question at Angela who usually planned the camp's day-to-day events.

"We're doing a skill assessment test after lunch to see how much everyone has improved over the summer. All morning and afternoon lessons are cancelled for today so everyone can prepare for the tests."

"Cool. Do you want to spar after breakfast?"

"Sure."

We finished eating breakfast and headed to the arena. In all of the time that I've been here, I've never fought against Angela. I've seen her teach sword fighting lessons but that was it.

"Powers or no powers?" She asked me.

"Let's go all out. It should be good practice for later."

"Alright. Daniel, do you mind refereeing the match?"

"Sure thing, Ang."

That was another thing that I noticed. No one else was allowed to call Angela by a nickname; and if someone did, then she usually glared at him. It was something that only Daniel was allowed to do.

Angela drew her weapon, but there was something added to it from the last time that I saw it. It still had the katana shape and the dagger length blade at the end of the hilt, but now there was a curved blade attached to the hilt (Her blades are like Chinese Hook Swords but with katana blades). She had two of them instead of one also. I put my shield on my back and had my spear ready. Angela didn't look like she used a shield, but she was a daughter of Hecate so she probably had some magic tricks up her sleeve.

Angela attacked first. I didn't even see her advance. One second she was thirty yards away, and the next she was right in front of me. She slashed down, forcing me to quickly block with my spear. She was deceptively strong and began pushing me backwards. I shot a small burst of electricity at her, getting her to disengage and creating some distance. I charged at Angela and started thrusting my spear at her when she was within reach. Angela dodged each thrust. She kept letting me back her up. I was getting frustrated and began releasing bursts of electricity from tip of my spear to shock just enough for me to move inside her guard and land a hit, but I still couldn't even graze her. I made the shock radius bigger, but I still missed.

I was getting really frustrated now. Why did I keep missing? I jabbed my spear at her feet and then threw a punch. I somehow passed through Angela completely. I did a roundhouse kick aimed at her head, but that passed through her too. Angela started fading in and out and then disappeared altogether. I was confused on where she went, and then I was face down on the floor. Angela shimmered into existence to my left with her swords at my neck.

"Do you yield?"

I didn't respond and focused on having an electrical current go up her swords and shocked her. She dropped her swords, giving me the chance to get up. We were facing each other. My spear was behind her, and her swords were behind me. She threw the first punch. I dodged it and countered with my own punch. She blocked it and kneed me in the gut. She went to knee me in the face, but I was able to block it in time. I grabbed her leg and flipped her onto her back. While she was on her back, I took off my shield from my back and smashed her face with it once she got back up. I went to hit her again, but Daniel intervened.

"I've been trying to get your attention for the past few minutes." He handed us some ambrosia and nectar. "We need to go. The camp is under attack."

The three of us ran out of the arena to see campers running back and forth alerting people, putting on their armor, or grabbing their weapons. Some of the cabins had caught fire. Perseus was giving out orders while guarding all of the younger campers. He already had some wounds though. He had some arrows in his arm and a few gashes on his arms and legs. There was no one at the entrance to the camp; but there were people fighting on the beach, and monsters and other people were coming out of the forest. There were already some bodies on the ground, but I couldn't tell which campers they were. This was bad.

AN: Hey guys! Thanks to whoever favorited, followed, or reviewed. This story has been going on for almost three years now, and I wanted to thank you guys for staying with this. I appreciate all of you guys. The story has maybe five more chapters left before it's over. I just wanted to let y'all know that it may be a little while until the next update as I am in the process of the holidays and also transferring into a new college. BUT I will try to update as soon as possible. The next chapter is in the works, but I don't know when it'll be done.

Thanks once again! Merry Christmas/Happy Chanuka/Kwanzaa and Happy New Year!