***This is a story I've wanted to do for a long time because there are so many awesome female characters in this series and it just seemed like they should have their own quest at some point. So I'm trying to write that. Hope you enjoy it! New chapters will be posted every two weeks, so the next chapter will be up May 20th.***

Chapter 1: Unseen Enemies

REYNA:

The day was unusually warm and sunny, especially for October, but Reyna felt cold. As she strode down the Via Principia from her home in New Rome, her purple cloak snapped in the wind. She nodded to those who called out greetings, but didn't stop to chat. The note was clenched in her fist and the last thing she wanted was for someone to ask her about it.

When she reached the principia, she was relieved to find it empty. Frank Zhang, her fellow praetor, was probably already either on duty checking the progress of the new fort for tonight's war games, or grabbing breakfast. Reyna dropped heavily into her chair, her closed fist resting on the table, the edges of the note just barely visible. Without bothering to read it again, she dropped it on the table.

What disturbed her even more than what the note said was the way it had been delivered: slipped underneath her front door at some point during the night. Which meant either someone within Camp Jupiter sent her the note, or someone (maybe something) was getting through their protected boundaries. Reyna wasn't sure which option was a bigger problem.

There was a knock on the principia door. Reyna jumped, then swallowed a surge of irritation. She was not some frail damsel who would be intimidated into starting at every noise. More sharply than she intended, she said, "Come in."

Somewhat to her surprise, Hazel Levesque entered. "Hi, Reyna. Is—Is Frank here, too?"

Reyna shook her head. "He's probably at breakfast, or checking the fortifications for the war games tonight. When you find him, can you ask him to meet me at the Caldecott Tunnel entrance as soon as he's available? I want to check the camp's boundaries."

Hazel hesitated. "I can do that, but actually, Reyna, I was looking for you."

"Oh?" Reyna straightened. Looking more closely, she noticed that Hazel's gold eyes were dark with worry and there was an angry but determined set to her mouth. "What's wrong?"

"You killed Orion, right? Back in August, at Camp Half-Blood?"

Reyna's stomach somersaulted. She forced herself to keep her voice steady and not glance at the note on the table. "I did. I strangled him with Athena's aegis and he dissolved into the sea."

"That's what I thought." Hazel bit her lip, then said, "This might be nothing, probably just someone playing a strange prank, but, last night—"

"You received a note." Reyna's voice was flat, even though her stomach was still twisting and turning.

Hazel's eyes widened. "How did you know?"

"Because I got one, too." Reyna gestured to the curled scroll on her desk, though she didn't pick it up. "What does yours say?"
Hazel handed it to her. "It was just sitting there beside my bunk this morning. I have no idea how it got there or who would have done it."

The tips of Reyna's fingers trembled just a fraction as she unfolded the note, which had been written in splotchy ink on what appeared to be a square of cured animal hide. Just like the note she had received. In clear, bold handwriting, Hazel's note read:

Orion with his golden bow is on watch during the night.

A chill spread through Reyna, like she'd swallowed a large ice cube. It wasn't fear. It was dread. She was absolutely certain she'd killed Orion; there was no doubt about that. She'd strangled the giant, then watched as his body sank below the waves of Long Island Sound and disappeared. That had only been a little over two months ago. Could Orion have already returned from Tartarus? It wouldn't be unprecedented, but it would be extraordinarily bad luck.

Not that Reyna was used to anything else.

"What does yours say?" Hazel asked quietly.

Wordlessly, Reyna shoved her note across the desk. Hazel picked it up. Her eyes darkened farther as she read the words Reyna had already memorized.

You are not like a son of Zeus…You did not kill that unhappy lover, bold Orion.

"But you did," Hazel said as she handed the note back to Reyna. "You did kill Orion."

"I thought so." Reyna smoothed both notes out on the table, scrutinizing them, as if she could better understand the meaning by looking at them together. "But someone clearly wants us to believe otherwise."

Before Hazel could respond, the air shimmered over Reyna's desk. She stepped back, reaching for a weapon, but Hazel held up her hands. "It's okay. I think it's just one of those Iris-messages, like the Greeks use."

She was right. The image slowly solidified to show a girl with dark brown hair and multicolored eyes, framed by a massive window that overlooked an ocean.

"Piper?" Hazel asked.

"Hazel?" Piper looked confused. "I was trying to call Reyna. I mean, hi, but—"

"She's here," Hazel said quickly. "I mean, I'm with Reyna, in the principia right now."

Reyna stepped around her desk so she could better see and be seen in the glimmering rainbow of the message. After a brief greeting, Reyna said, "Let me guess...you got a note, too."

Piper pursed her lips, then muttered a curse. "I was hoping you hadn't."

"We both did," Hazel said. "What did yours say?"

Piper held up a small leather square that looked identical to the two lying on Reyna's desk. "So vast a blade does threatening Orion wield on winter nights and terrify the stars. Cheerful, right?"

"Almost as pleasant as ours," Reyna agreed, then read the two notes out loud to Piper.

"But you killed him, right?" Piper asked, just like Hazel had.

"Yes, I absolutely did," Reyna said. But she had to reluctantly add, "However, it wouldn't be the most uncommon thing for him to have reformed."

"That quickly, though?" Piper tapped her fingers on her own note. "Annabeth said it usually takes time. Oh and by the way, more good news, she got one, too."

"Are you serious?" Hazel asked.

Piper nodded. "And I checked with Jason, but he didn't get anything. Neither did Percy, according to Annabeth. Did Frank?"
Hazel shook her head. "I asked. Nothing."

"So just the girls. From the Prophecy of Seven. And me." Reyna felt a bitter taste fill her mouth. It couldn't be a coincidence. "I hate to ask this, Piper, but do you think you could come up here? Just until we sort this out?"

"Already planning on it. Annabeth, too. We'll both be there early tomorrow morning. Any chance we can arrange an airport pick up?"

It didn't take long to sort out the details with Piper, who promised to relay the information to Annabeth. Once the Iris-message flickered out, Reyna and Hazel just stood there for a moment, looking at each other. Then, Hazel sighed. "Never a dull moment?"

Reyna laughed ruefully. "Never."

"I can go tell Frank what's going on, if you want," Hazel offered.

"That would be great," Reyna said. "And you might want to go ahead and pack a bag, just in case. I have a feeling we may not be able to solve this by staying at camp."

Hazel nodded. She offered Reyna a quick salute, then left the principia, her armor flashing in the rays of morning sun streaming through the door. Reyna glared at the notes lying so innocently on her desk. She was a praetor of Rome. She did not appreciate being threatened by someone too cowardly to even confront her to her face. The fact that this person had also threatened her friends, who hadn't even been involved in the fight with Orion, made her angry, too.

She doubted that it was truly the giant. Orion was gone. But she remembered Lycaon and his wolves, who had confronted her, Nico, and Hedge in Portugal. They had been working with the giant. Maybe Orion had other minions who were mad he was gone. Reyna had a hunch as to where she and the other girls could go to possibly find more information. Good thing she'd told Hazel to pack a bag. Stuffing the notes in her pocket, Reyna headed out the door, back to her house so she could quickly pack for herself, too, before she got caught up in her other duties. That way they could leave in the morning, as soon as Piper and Annabeth arrived.

ANNABETH:

"Are you sure I can't come with you?" Percy asked yet again as he navigated the Prius through the traffic near LaGuardia. It wasn't quite morning rush hour, but already the streets were busy.

Annabeth resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "For the last time, Seaweed Brain, you can't fly. It's not worth the risk. Besides, you have your SAT retake in the morning."

"I'd rather take my chances with flying," Percy grumbled.

"You're going to do great," she reassured him. "I know you'll pass this time."

"Well that makes one of us."

"Hey." Annabeth put a hand on his arm, while trying not to distract him as they turned towards the airport parking garage. "You can do this."

Percy shot her a brief smile, then returned his focus to finding a parking spot. "I'll try my best, anyway."

"I know." Annabeth bit her lip. She was nervous about flying out to California to deal with this note situation, whatever it was. But still, her bigger worry at the moment was Percy's seeming lack of confidence with testing. Failing the first time had been a hit to his self-confidence. "Just remember what we've been working on and you'll be great. Promise."

"Yeah. Still," he frowned as he pulled into a parking spot, "the real problem right now is why someone sent you guys those notes. And I still don't totally understand why you have to go all the way to Cali to figure it out."

"You know, when we move out there, you absolutely cannot call it Cali."

Percy grinned as he shifted into park and turned off the Prius. "So I probably shouldn't say 'Frisco, either, right?"

Annabeth shuddered. "Gods, no. And I have to go out there because it just makes sense to meet at Camp Jupiter. Hazel and Reyna are already there, it's a quick flight for Piper, and the borders are protected."

"Not enough to keep somebody from sneaking in and leaving creepy notes," Percy pointed out.

"Yeah, well, nothing's perfect."

Percy insisted on carrying her bag into the airport for her, which Annabeth thought was sweet. They held hands walking in. Annabeth tried to ignore the butterflies nervously fluttering around her stomach. She had enough problems this semester with just trying to pass her classes, plus she had a second interview next week for an architecture internship that she really didn't want to miss. And there was some weird stuff going on with Egyptian magicians. The last thing she needed right now was a quest. But the notes had clearly been threatening, and needed to be dealt with. The sooner she did that, Annabeth figured, the sooner she could get back to the rest of her life.

When they walked into the terminal, Percy set her bag down and looked around the terminal, squinting like it was unnaturally bright, a disgruntled expression on his face. "I don't like this."

Annabeth gazed around the terminal, bustling with activity as people checked in, checked their luggage, shouted at their traveling companions, and said their good-byes. "It looks pretty normal to me."

"Not the terminal. I mean this quest, or whatever." His eyebrows scrunched together. "Do you know how long you'll be gone?"

Annabeth shrugged. "Hopefully not much past this weekend. I've got a calculus test on Wednesday. And my interview Friday. But I'll let you know when I'm heading back." She forced a smile. "Will you pick me up?"

"Of course." He still looked distracted, though, and unsmiling. Annabeth's stomach tightened.

In a lower voice, she said, "What aren't you telling me, Percy?"

He swallowed and locked eyes with her. A chill rippled down her spine when she recognized the nervousness in his sea-green eyes. "I kind of had a dream."

Annabeth cursed. "About what?"

"I'm not really sure, exactly. It was just these weird images, hard to make anything out, but…" his voice trailed off briefly before he said, "I got a really bad feeling."

The butterflies in Annabeth's stomach began swirling into a hurricane. "But you don't remember any details?"

Percy shook his head. "Just a few flashes—something about wolves, maybe an archer. A canyon. Nothing helpful."

"Great," Annabeth muttered. This was all sounding better and better. But the only way to fix it was to move forward and deal with the problem. She checked the time on her phone. "Well, if you think of anything else, let me know. I need to go so I have enough time to get through security."

"Okay," Percy said, though he didn't look happy about it. "Well, stay in touch, alright?"

"Of course." Annabeth stepped closer. "And you're going to do great on your test tomorrow, I know it."

"Here's hoping." He hooked his fingers into the belt loops of her jeans, tugging her closer and making Annabeth's heart race. There was an intensity in the way he looked at her when he said, "Just come back to me."

"Always." She kissed him, and for several moments, the world was okay. "I love you."

"Love you, too." He pressed his lips to her forehead. "Go kick some ass, Wise Girl."

She smiled. "I'll do my best."

The last she saw, before she turned the corner, was Percy standing in the terminal, hands shoved in his pockets. When he noticed her looking back, though, he smiled and gave a small wave. She returned both, trying to hide the growing sense of unease as she headed into security.

Luckily, her flight was smooth. Annabeth mostly stared out the window, thinking and wishing she could make a plan, but it was almost impossible with the incredibly limited information she had on hand. She sighed and leaned back against her seat. The last two months in New York had been great, just focusing on school and hanging out with Percy without a quest or prophecy dangling over them. And while she was looking forward to seeing her friends, she wasn't thrilled to be dragged into some mysterious monster mess. But it couldn't be helped. Whoever sent her and her friends the notes had to be dealt with.

When she exited the plane into the terminal at San Francisco's airport, she had barely gone three steps when a familiar voice called out, "Annabeth!"

She turned to see Piper running towards her. Annabeth smiled and hugged her friend. After catching up for a minute, they headed out of the airport and found a car waiting for them. The driver, a large buff woman who looked like she did bodybuilding on the side, was wearing a shapeless purple shirt and holding a sign that said A. Chase. She grunted when they greeted her and led the way out to a beat-up taxi waiting at the curb. Annabeth was slightly surprised by its rundown appearance, but figured maybe it was for keeping a low profile.

"So, how's life?" Piper asked once they'd settled in and the taxi was weaving its way through the airport traffic.

"Going good until I got this stupid note," Annabeth replied. "How about you?"

Piper shrugged. "Can't complain. It's been nice living with my dad again full-time. And eventually, I hope, Leo will show up and I can kick his butt for being gone so long." Her voice sounded tough, though her mouth trembled just a bit.

"There'll be a line for that when he shows up," Annabeth said with a small smile and reached over to quickly squeeze her friend's hand. "How's school? And Jason?"

"Both good." Piper leaned back in her seat and glanced out the window. They'd made their way onto the highway. "It's weird how easy school seems, after how crazy everything's been."

"Definitely. But I'll take it."

"For sure." Piper smiled. "How's Percy?"

"Fine." Annabeth tapped her fingers on her seat, watching a few eucalyptus trees whisk past the window. "Except he has to take his SAT tomorrow and he's really worried about it."

"Ugh." Piper made a face. "I'm not looking forward to that."

"Yeah, it's not fun. But you'll do fine. So will Percy. I just wish he believed that." Annabeth sighed, then shook her head. "Anyway, not the point right now. Did you bring your note?"

Piper nodded and patted the backpack at her feet. "You?" When Annabeth nodded, Piper shook her head and crossed her arms. "This whole thing is creepy. I want to know how whoever this is got so close."

"Same." Annabeth glanced toward the driver, not sure how much else to say; she assumed Reyna was probably keeping this quiet, and their driver didn't need to know the situation. "I tried to do some research, but it went nowhere. Hopefully Hazel and Reyna know something."

Piper answered, but Annabeth didn't hear it. She'd glanced out the window and suddenly realized they were on the opposite side of the city from where they should be. Instead of heading toward the Caldecott Tunnel (and Camp Jupiter) over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, they were getting on the Golden Gate Bridge, which led away from downtown San Francisco and out toward the Marin Headlands...and Mount Tamalpais. Dread trickled down Annabeth's spine. Her face must have shown it, too, because Piper asked in a low voice, "What's wrong?"

Annabeth met her friend's eyes briefly, and Piper immediately bent down and began rummaging in her backpack, hopefully to find a weapon. Thanks to airport security, Annabeth hadn't been able to bring her drakon bone sword. It was too unwieldly. She'd picked up an extra knife at camp, but it wasn't the same as the one she'd lost. She'd been hoping to grab a sword at Camp Jupiter, but it looked like she might need one sooner than that. Hoping her instincts were wrong and they were just taking a different route because of construction or something, Annabeth leaned forward and asked, "Excuse me, don't we need to take the other bridge to get to the Caldecott Tunnel?"

There was a low rumble from the front seat. After a confused moment, Annabeth realized the driver was laughing. The woman's voice was raspy when she said, "That would be correct if we were going to that Roman camp. But I have orders to deliver you somewhere else, Annabeth Chase."

Annabeth mentally cursed as the Mist melted away, revealing a giant of a woman in the front seat. Her skin was sunburn red, her pointed teeth stuck out over her bottom lip, and her hairy arms were covered in tattoos. The one on her right bicep, leering in Annabeth's face, said Babycakes luvs Joe Bob.

"I'm being paid well for this," the Laistrygonian growled, "but I would have done it for free. I owe you, Annabeth Chase. You took Joe Bob away from me!" And she jerked the wheel hard, heading for the edge of the Golden Gate Bridge.