I do not own Percy Jackson nor any series affiliated with the Riordanverse. Rick Riordan does.
Cabin #3, or better known as the Poseidon Cabin. This cabin had seen many things over the years it was active. Children of the Sea God came and went. Some were good. Others were horrendous. But all in all, this cabin saw it all. The cabin's current resident was perhaps Poseidon's most accomplished child in the modern era and the current hero of this era. The two-time savior of the Greek Gods, Percy Jackson.
The demigod could be found, lazing around in his bed in a cabin he had all to himself. Well, almost all to himself. The blonde that had wormed her way into his life had practically lived here on some days and didn't on others. But today was one of those days where he was alone. It had been a few days since the festivities ended. The Gods had been quiet for a long time and Mister D hadn't been back to camp. Not that he cared. It was nice to not hear the God of Wine's voice for a few days.
Camp Half-Blood hadn't seen such peaceful days in a long time indeed.
Percy laid in his bed, drawing small shapes with water that he had pulled from his bottle. With two Great Prophecies done and gone, what was left for him and the rest of the Seven? They were coasting like old war veterans after a major war had ended. Sure they were honored and placed on a higher pedestal than the others, him moreso than the others, but still, what was he to do? Should he leave camp for a while and go visit his Mom and Paul? That thought quickly banished itself from his mind when he remembered that Demigods were monster magnets. He didn't want his parents nor his new baby sister to be put in danger.
"Maybe I should visit Atlantis and bring Tyson some pbjs." Percy created a small ball of water and turned it into a wheel. He sighed and turned the water into vapor. All he was looking forward to now was a normal life. No Gods. No Monsters. No Demigods. No Camp. Just him, college, and Annabeth.
"I should shut up before I invoke Murphy's Law," he said. Percy had a small inkling that something bad would happen as if it had happened many times before in alternate timelines. And that is enough of that show… he thought to himself as he got up.
A good walk to the beach and throwing rocks into the water would do him some good. It would be therapeutic even. With that in mind, Percy hopped out of bed and exited the cabin. It was a ways away from where he was but Percy trekked to the beach. Along the way, demigods waved and cheered. Heroes. Everyone loved them and he was a big damn one. Now if only it would stop so he can relax.
Finally arriving at the sandy shores of the Long Island Sound, Percy sat on one of the rocks and just stared. Playing with the hem of his shorts, Percy stared and stared into the watery expanse. Not even noticing what he was doing, Percy instinctively found a flat rock and skipped it.
Rock skipping was normal for people his age. Skipping rocks across the lake was a crucial part of character and plot development and often involved having another person with them to talk about their problems. Whether it was that new son of Zeus that would eventually take Annabeth and confine him to Tartarus or Chaos herself coming down and making him the leader of her army.
Wait… what the fuck? What kind of thoughts were those? We don't live in that kind of world, he thought as he skipped another one. A ten. If Annabeth were here to see it, she would accuse him of cheating and make him do it again. Couldn't she just accept that he was naturally gifted at this form of therapy?
"Skipping rocks again?"
Speak of the devil. He turned around and saw the stormy grey eyes and the blonde hair of his girlfriend. Annabeth smiled and walked over to him, grabbing a flat stone along the way. She flicked her wrist and smiled. Ten skips.
"Beat that." She sat down next to him, leaning on his arm.
"I can't with you leaning on my dominant arm," Percy snarked. Annabeth merely smiled and grabbed a random pebble. She placed it into his hand and gave him the go-ahead. Percy deadpanned at the rock in his hand and got up.
"No using your powers. If you even get a single skip with this rock, I'll call BS," Annabeth said, watching her boyfriend walk to the edge of the lake.
"Yes Ma'am," he replied. He flicked his wrist and as he predicted, the rock hit the sound's surface with an audible thunk and sank to the lake floor. Percy bent over and picked up another rock. Perfect, he thought. "Can I have another go?"
"Sure sure." Annabeth placed her head on her hands as she watched Percy flick her wrist. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15!? She shot to her feet as she watched the stone sink after fifteen skips. "You cheated."
"No. I'm just a natural," he said, smirking at her angry face.
"That's bullshit! Do it again!"
"Fine, fine, Wise Girl." He performed the exact same motion and only got 14 skips this time.
"How…?"
"I guess Children of Poseidon are good at skipping rocks?" he shrugged and sat back down on the rock. Annabeth grumbled about Seaweed Brains and Hydrokinesis before sitting down next to him.
"So what now? No more Titans. No more Giants. No more Gaia? What's in it for us now?"
Annabeth's question was something he was just thinking about and came to the Sound to escape from. He didn't know what to do other than the three he had thought of earlier. A career in Marine Biology sounded nice but was too much of a cliche. He might've been a son of Poseidon but that never meant that he wanted to be a marine biologist. Such a stereotype had been spread both here and at Camp Jupiter.
"Well… for me, it's just college and jobs." Percy turned to face her. And you of course, he added as an afterthought. It was a simple agreement between the two that they wouldn't have so many sappy moments. They refused to be a stereotypical tween couple and agreed that some things were just too over the top.
"And me?" the look of shock on his face was all she needed to know. Annabeth smiled and punched his shoulder. "You're such a sap."
"I'm your sap," Percy said. Annabeth playfully sighed in annoyance and leaned on his shoulder before the serious expression returned to her face.
"I want to go to New Rome."
He didn't turn to look at her this time. It was always his assumption that she would choose that place over universities in the Mortal Realm.
"But…"
There was a but. This made him glance down at the top of her head.
"I want to go to Berkeley. They have one of the nation's premier programs for engineering and architecture and I want to go there." She looked up at him, wondering what kind of response she would receive.
"Did you apply?" Percy asked. She nodded and he smiled. If that was what she wanted, then… "Go for it."
"Huh?" A confused expression appeared on her face. All scenarios in her mind pointed to him saying no. Now it was Percy's turn to laugh.
"You thought I'd say no? I'm not that dumb. A degree from a university no one's ever heard of and isn't accredited wouldn't have any weight outside of Greek and Roman God areas," Percy said.
"I feel stupid for not thinking about that." Annabeth buried her face in her arms. That was embarrassing.
"A child of Athena being wrong?" he joked.
"Shut it." She pinched his leg. Percy winced in pain while maintaining his laugh.
"Do you want to head back to the cabin?" Annabeth asked. She had grown bored of sitting and looking at the sound. Not to mention the fact that she was hungry. Annabeth was very well aware of the mountain of snacks Percy hoarded in his cabin. And blue food dye.
"No, I think I'll stay here a bit lo-"
"You love birds doing okay?"
The two turned around to see the familiar spiky black hair and electrifying blue eyes of their friend. Thalia smiled and placed her hands on her hips.
"How'd you find us?" Annabeth asked.
"How did I not find you? You two love this place," she said, sitting down on the sand next to them.
"So why are you here?" Percy asked. He grabbed a flat stone and skipped it across the sound. Annabeth tried not to scream when she counted 18 skips.
"Chiron is calling us to the Big House. There's… something going on. If you haven't noticed, the Hunters and I have been stuck here for a few days now and Artemis still isn't back from their big meeting," Thalia said.
"I did notice that. It got weird when we went five days with no freak lightning storms and no Mr. D. I wonder what's going on," Annabeth said. "Let's go to the Big House."
"Look at who's late. Were you two bumping uglies down by the soun-" Travis never finished his sentence as a shoe hit him square in the face.
Annabeth stood there with an unamused look on her face. She walked over to him and grabbed her shoe.
"Oof," was all Connor could say. The Big House was the main administrative building where Mr. D and Chiron ran the camp from. It was also where quests were handed out and prophecies were given. The Cabin Heads also held their meetings within the rec room of the Big House. Percy and Annabeth turned to face their fellow cabin heads around the ping pong table as the sounds of horse hooves could be heard entering the room.
Chiron was the de-facto administrator of the camp. Despite the fact that Mr. D was the camp director, Chiron ran most of the day to day affairs including facilitating the meetings between the directors and the cabin head. The old centaur stroked his beard upon seeing them all.
"Why are we all here? We never meet like this unless something important is happening." A girl with messy brown hair and dark eyes crossed her arms in annoyance.
"I agree with Clarisse. Why did you call us here, Chiron?" another girl said. She was of Cherokee descent and had kaleidoscopic eyes.
"It is… an unorthodox meeting I admit, Piper, but I can assure you that this is important," he said. "You may come in now milady."
Their eyes widened comically when a little girl with flaming eyes came into the rec room.
"L- Lady Hestia!" they all bowed in unison upon seeing her.
Hestia raised her hand and they all stopped bowing.
"B- But wait! Why is Lady Hestia here?" Thalia asked.
"There's a lot of things I can't go into until we've sorted it all out but… starting today, I'm the new Camp Director." The small goddess sighed. Chaos. This was all Chaos's idea. While she appreciated their Creator taking an active role within their lives, this was not what she had in mind. Not that she hated the campers. It was just strange for her. Still, this was better than facing annihilation at the hands of the other Gods.
"Where's Mister D?" a brown-haired girl with green eyes asked. She was Katie Gardener, the current counselor for Demeter Cabin. She had a confused expression on her face. An expression that was mirrored by the rest of them.
She sent Chiron a look that told him not to say anything.
"Dionysus has been relieved of his duties as the camp director and I was placed in charge."
"Why?" This time Annabeth asked. Hestia looked straight into her eyes and sighed.
"This isn't something I can get into. At least, not until everything's been sorted out. This is all I can say on the matter as of right now so please bear with me," she said.
Annabeth reluctantly backed down but swore to investigate in private later. Was there a new prophecy? If so, Rachel would've said something and the redhead had been quiet the entire meeting.
"Is… Is something going on?" Percy asked.
"You can say that. There's been... " Hestia trailed off, "some new rules implemented into the system."
"What about Lady Artemis?" Thalia asked.
"She'll be here to collect you all shortly. Right now, your father is giving her a hunt for all of you to perform. I might as well tell you now so you know. There is a small disturbance in Michigan up in the Great Lakes Area. During our meeting, Hecate burst in and said that she sensed a disturbance there. She'll tell you more later. But for now, I am the new Camp Director and… I guess I look forward to working with you all." Hestia bowed slightly before them.
"That will be all. You are all dismissed," Chiron said. The counselors all whispered amongst themselves as Chiron and Hestia left the room.
"What do you think that was all about? You think Mr. D is in trouble?" Connor asked.
"Maybe!" Travis said.
"That…" Annabeth slapped herself on the forehead. That was the most logical explanation she's ever heard from those two. Why didn't she think of that?
"So what now?" Katie asked.
"I guess we all go get lunch?" Percy said.
"Yeah, lunch sounds good to me." Grover shrugged.
"I can't… Lady Artemis is getting back and we have to get ready to move out," Thalia said. "Next time guys."
Percy walked out of the Big House alongside the other counselors talking amicably. Thalia walked ahead of them and straight to another child. This child had long auburn hair and wore a silver parka. An aura of power surrounded her and the entire group flinched when her silver eyes gazed upon them.
"Hey wait." Annabeth grabbed Percy's arm before they could make it any further back to the cabins.
"What is it?" He turned to see his girlfriend looking at Artemis and Thalia.
"Don't you want to know what's going on?" she asked.
"That sounds like a really bad idea," Percy replied.
"But what if this is something big. Like… Great Prophecy big. Remember, the second Gigantomachy happened without us knowing," Annabeth said. Percy grimaced. Hera had kidnapped and wiped his memories, all in some elaborate scheme to unite the two camps to fight the Protogenos of the Earth.
"I guess we can- oh wait, here comes Thalia and Artemis now."
Annabeth turned so fast that Percy swore her neck snapped just there.
"You two aren't very quiet." Artemis crossed her arms as her eyes glowed. "Eavesdropping on a God is very rude."
"I'm so sorry Milady! It's just that things have been-"
"Odd? Hmph. I can assure you that whatever it is you're imagining is just that. Nothing much is going on aside from a few rule changes," Artemis said. Her eyes said an entirely different thing. Something about them made the two feel uneasy.
Thalia's expression didn't help.
"So where are you guys going?" Percy asked.
"Michigan," Artemis said.
"Norton Shores. We're going to Norton Shores," Thalia added.
"What for?" Annabeth asked.
"Just your standard demigod retrieval," Artemis said.
Annabeth and Percy exchanged glances. That did not sound right at all. A demigod retrieval did not garner the attention of Zeus unless the demigod was Zeus's. Of course, that was also out of the question. There was no sign of godly activity over the past few days after all. Even the monsters were pulling back somewhat. It was all very strange.
"Let's go, Thalia. We have a lot of ground to cover," Artemis said as she walked off.
Thalia sighed and walked after her. However, as she did, she turned around and mouthed one word to the two.
Mist.
Norton Shores was a quaint little lakeside town on the southeastern shore of Lake Michigan. The town was mostly suburban with a healthy amount of development and tourism. People here always came to swim in the lakes or take their boats out.
But in this picturesque town lay something completely out of place.
A cyclops fled for his life. Fear coursed through his body. What were they all thinking? His chances of survival were now zero. The remnants of the Earth Protogenos's forces were all dead. Dead because they angered a being beyond their power. As he ran through the woods that dotted the town, he tripped and fell to the ground.
"Gaia must have some enormous figurative balls if she planned to attack me of all people."
His lone eye widened in terror as he backpedaled into a tree. Sitting on a branch above him was a teenage girl. She wore a pink dress and had blonde hair going down to her shoulder. Her red eyes were filled with tranquil fury as they glowed ominously. She pulled something out of thin air. The head of a Lastrygonian Giant.
"Hey, this was a really stupid idea." The head moved in her hand in a mocking fashion. The cyclops whimpered as she threw the head. The head landed in front of him, rolling until the giant's face was what he looked at. His expression was one of final terror. Absolute and utter defeat.
"So if you don't mind, no hard feelings really. I heard that Gaia's asleep again. I might actually kill her this time." the girl appeared in front of him, floating in front of his face.
"Ahhh!" in one last desperate move to survive, he swung his arm. The girl lazily raised one finger and locked his attack.
"You know… I was going to let you live but.. This time, you will certainly die." Her eyes glowed and his entire body was incinerated. Flames burned him, body and soul. She sighed as the inferno blazed before her. He and his friends wouldn't reform after that. She made it certain.
Gaia really was a pain. Her and her son. She would kill them for sure this time. And the entire Greek Pantheon if they didn't leave her alone.
Taking one last look at the blaze, the girl smiled before disappearing from the woods. As the flames died down, a lone white and pink feather fell to the ground.
Sorry for the late update. Real life happened and I wasn't able to write as much. Please review. It really helps.