Note: I'm not Rick Riordan or JK Rowling, so I don't own any of the characters, plots, etc.

Revised 10/02/2020

The Order of the Olympians

Chapter 1

"The landscape below them was a bleak, ash-gray plain bristling with black trees, like insect hair. The ground was pocketed with blisters. Every once in a while, a bubble would swell and burst, disgorging a monster like a larva from an egg.

Suddenly Percy wasn't hungry anymore.

All the newly formed monsters were crawling and hobbling in the same direction-toward a bank of black fog that swallowed the horizon like a storm front. The Phlegethon flowed in the same direction until about halfway across the plain, where it met another river of black water-maybe the Cocytus? The two floods combined in a steaming, boiling cataract and flowed on as one toward the black fog." (House of Hades)

Strong hands gripped Percy's shoulders, and terror swept through him. He thrashed out, trying to escape whatever monster had discovered him in Tartarus.

"Percy, Percy! Wake up! It's just me!" A familiar voice sliced through his nightmare, and he forced his eyes open to see a hint of tangled, curly blond hair. Annabeth.

His tense muscles instantly relaxed and let himself look at his girlfriend as he took a few deep breaths. Her brilliant grey eyes were brimming with worry, and he could see a milky reflection from the moon that told him that she was on the verge of tears. Loose strands of her long curls drifted over her clear face. She had on a dark blue tank top with cotton white pajama bottoms, and Percy really tried to keep his eyes from sweeping across her body.

Instead, he reached up to touch her face, sweeping his thumb over her sharp cheekbones and tucking a piece of hair behind her ear, and felt a surge of calm wash over him as she placed her hand over his and leaned into it.

"Nightmares again?" She whispered. Percy nodded his response. Annabeth waved her hand towards Percy, and he moved over on the bed to give her room. She snuggled underneath his outstretched arm and placed her head gently on his chest so that she could feel his quick heartbeat. "Where were we this time?"

He carefully ran his fingers through her hair and whispered back, "It was when we followed the Empousai to the cliff. Where we first saw Tartarus." Annabeth didn't respond, instead taking his free hand and squeezing it tightly.

Unfortunately, this wasn't a rare occurrence. It had been two months since the war with Gaea, and Annabeth and Percy continued to be haunted by the depths of Tartarus. It wasn't every night, but it happened often enough that Chiron had begrudgingly allowed these "sleepovers" when one of them was haunted by their memories.

"I love you Wise Girl." Percy murmured against Annabeth's temple.

"I love you too Seaweed Brain." She responded, and the two of them drifted into a dreamless sleep.

XX

Percy awoke to a wave of sunlight creeping through his windows and a nagging sense that something was missing. He sat up in his bed, feeling a cold spot next to him, and remembered that Annabeth had slept with him last night. He immediately leaped out of bed on high alert with pen in hand, eyes tracking the empty cabin around him, convinced some god or another had taken her away from him. Again.

Just as Percy was about to sprint out the door, Annabeth walked through it wearing her ripped blue jean shorts and fading orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirt. His heart fluttered at the sight of her, and he took three deep breaths to calm himself down, something Annabeth had taught him.

"Woah, where's the fire Seaweed Brain?" She cocked her head to the side with assessing grey eyes, and Percy tried to play it off.

"Uh, no fire. I…just thought I had slept in." He lied, scratching at the nape of his neck.

Of course, Annabeth knew what was really going on and raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow. She walked over and put her arms around his waist. "I'm right here. I just needed to get changed." Percy pressed a kiss to the top of her head before sighing and stepping back.

"You did sleep in though, so you missed breakfast. Your sword fighting class starts in thirty minutes."

Percy nodded. Chiron asked him to teach the first sword fighting class of the school year for the kids who had chosen to stay behind at Camp before he left.

"Okay, I'll just get ready and meet you out there." She reached up and pressed her lips to his cheek, then headed out the door of the Poseidon cabin.

Percy groaned and slumped back onto his bed. He hated feeling so…scared. Things had gotten better since the war with Gaea. Jason and Piper traveled back and forth between Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter, making sure that both of them were following through on their promises to honor all of the gods. Hazel had returned to her home at Camp Jupiter, where her boyfriend Frank was currently serving as Praetor alongside Reyna. They kept in touch through Iris Message, but Percy missed his friends like a severed limb.

And Leo-gods, Leo! That little punk had died, and then magically flown back to Camp-Half Blood on the back of Festus, carrying the one and only Calypso. How it happened, Percy had no idea, but he was just so happy that his buddy was alive, and overly ecstatic that Leo was able to rescue his girlfriend from her curse.

Percy and Annabeth were getting ready for their senior year of high school at Goode. After graduation, they had plans to attend college in New Rome. It was still hard to believe that he and Annabeth would have an actual future together; it had just never seemed possible with the million and one death prophecies coming out of the woodworks. They could finally simply be together and not worry about threats to their lives.

Despite all of the good things that were happening in his life, he was still…scared. Tartarus had scarred him forever, and he hated it. Hated feeling weak.

He struggled out of bed, took a quick shower, brushed his teeth, and changed into sword fighting gear before heading off to the arena. When he approached the field, he counted about eight younger campers in total crowded around chatting with one another.

Percy glanced up and saw Annabeth standing over the railing talking to Nico Di Angelo and Will Solace in the stands. It was always a good idea to have an Apollo kid on hand when pointy objects were in play.

Percy's heart clenched with warmth every time he saw those two together. One would think that after Nico confessed his feelings for him, Percy would have been uncomfortable or acted distant, but it was the opposite.

Percy knew that Nico deserved to be happy, especially after everything he had been through. It took guts for him to admit his feelings and take the leap with someone who would reciprocate them. Percy was honestly happy to say that his friendship with Nico had blossomed, despite everything.

The pair nodded to him, and he shot a crooked grin in their direction before turning his attention to the group of campers.

"Alright guys, who can tell me the number one rule of a swordfight?" He asked, then waited patiently while a few of them shuffled around and looked at their feet. The others looked to at least be thinking about it, before one brave soul called out, "try not to die?"

Percy chucked and shrugged. "That's pretty important too. But the number one rule is to find a weapon that fits you." He slid his hand in his right pocket and pulled out his trusty pen. The campers had obviously heard stories, because their interest level peaked as they leaned in with wide eyes.

He popped off the cap and watched as Riptide, the three-foot long Celestial Bronze sword, grew in his hand. Percy pointed the tip of the sword over the campers' shoulders. "I want you all to head down to the armory and talk to Clarisse, head of the Ares Cabin. She will be there to help find the weapon that best suits you. After that, come back here and we can run through some drills."

The campers nodded excitedly and took off towards the armory without looking back. Percy sighed and couldn't help the smirk that tugged at the corner of his mouth. The idea that he used to be that young and fragile seemed impossible.

Percy pointed his sword towards Annabeth and raised an eyebrow. She happily accepted the challenge and pulled out her own sword made out of drakon bone. Percy knew that while she would have preferred her knife, Annabeth was happy with the replacement Damasen gave her in Tartarus. The two sparred lightly, not tiring each other out before the campers returned with their weapons.

By the time the lesson was over an hour and a half later, the campers were sprawled out on the ground, groaning from exhaustion. Percy had worked them hard, teaching them the correct footwork, proper defense and offensive skills, and letting them get used to their weapons. Once they were finished, Will jumped over the railing and joined them in the arena to check on any injuries they might have received.

After a quick glance, he winked at them. "You guys are fine, just go get showered. You all smell like dead hellhounds." Will pinched his nose with two fingers and pointed in the direction of the cabins. He turned towards the older demigods with a kind smile, "Nice practice. I imagine Chiron will whip these kids into shape soon enough. Nico had to finish some business with him, but said he will meet us at the campfire tonight."

Percy and Annabeth left the arena to shower, then met back up to enjoy lunch in the dining pavilion. Since the war with Gaea, the demigods flat out ignored the rule about having to sit separately. They'd been through too much together to only sit at their godly parent's tables. However, they made sure to move around each meal so that none of their parents could get jealous and do something drastic, like punish the Camp for insubordination.

Leo was tinkering with the Archimedes Sphere with Calypso by his side at the Hephaestus table, and they both nodded their hellos to the pair as they sat down. "What's up guys? How was practice?" Leo asked, his hands fidgeting wildly around his favorite toy.

"It was good, but it will be a while before they can handle themselves in a real fight. Chiron has his work cut out for him." Percy replied honestly. It had taken a lot of practice to get where he was today, and it would be the same for the campers. ADHD was an essential tool for demigods because it would keep them alive in a fight, but they would still need to know how to handle a weapon properly.

"I wonder what Nico's business with him is about." Annabeth thought out loud as she swallowed a bite of her food. "Chiron has just seemed so…nervous lately."

Leo almost dropped the Archimedes Sphere. Calypso quickly took it from his hands and gave him a questioning look. "Sorry babe, it's just the last time Chiron was nervous we had to go on a quest to defeat that psychopath, Friggin' Mother Earth." Percy gave him a hard look at the reminder, and Leo paled. "I-I-I'm just saying! I don't like it when the centaur is nervous!"

Annabeth and Calypso both put their hands placatingly on their boyfriends' arms to calm them down. "It will be fine Percy." She insisted. "We have a plan, remember? Finish high school, go to New Rome, live happily ever after. Right?" He let out a sigh and kissed her hard on the mouth.

"I am just so over quests." he mumbled, throwing his arm around her shoulder.

XX

The rest of the afternoon was decidedly uneventful. Percy, Annabeth, Leo, Calypso, and Will enjoyed a day of hanging out by the beach, swimming in the calm waters and laying around on the warm, fine sand. Leo and Percy had played around with their respective powers just for fun; testing to see how much fire it took for the seawater to become steam, and ended up making a spectacle of themselves. They simply enjoyed their time together and didn't give any more thought as to what Nico and Chiron were meeting about.

Once the sun began to set and the campfire was lit, their nerves had completely worn away. Campers quickly filled in all of the empty spaces atop the rows of logs while the Apollo kids dithered near the front, preparing to kick off the evening with a few songs.

Percy took a portion of his dinner plate and sacrificed it into the fire for Poseidon, thinking, "Hey Dad, if possible, I would really like for this year to be as boring as possible…" and joined his friends. He was in the middle of a conversation with Leo about a new invention he was working on when Percy caught a glimpse of a familiar head of frizzy red hair coming towards them.

"Rachel?" he questioned in confusion, and his friends all turned around to look at the newcomer. She had on her grey Clarion Ladies Academy uniform with a golden headband pushing back the tangle of red hair that normally fell in front of her face. Percy stood up to greet his friend with a wide smile, "Hey Rachel! I thought you had already left for school!"

She flashed him a goofy grin, "I did, but I heard you and Annabeth were heading out tomorrow for Goode, and I had to make sure I got the chance to say goodbye!" She turned to give each of her friends a hug, and Percy noticed that she held onto Annabeth a little tighter than the others, whispering something in her ear. Annabeth cocked her eyebrow at whatever Rachel must have told her, but otherwise stayed silent.

The group caught up with their Oracle and sang along with the crowd, relishing their time watching the campfire grow to an upwards of fifteen feet and mold into a stunning gold with wisps of yellow and red. Chiron approached the fire with a sulking Nico by his side, and the campers immediately quieted down.

When the centaur caught sight of Rachel, Percy noticed that his eyes widened in something that looked suspiciously like fear for half a second before returning to their normal brooding nature. Nico took his spot next to Will and gave his friends a 'we need to talk later' look.

Chiron trotted up to the front of the crowd and cleared his throat, calling for everyone's attention.

"Good evening campers. As you all know, this is the last weekend we will have everyone together until next summer. Those of you who chose to leave to attend a mortal school during the school year will need to have your bunks cleaned out by noon tomorrow, or else the Harpies will have a fit.

I want to say thank you to everyone who has worked to clean up Camp Half-Blood after the war, but a I need to give a special thanks to the Athena and Hephaestus cabins for helping us rebuild all that we lost."

The towering campfire lowered dramatically at that reminder as the campers silently relived all of the tolls of war.

"Those of you who have elected to remain at Camp Half-Blood, please be prepared to continue building the new cabins and shrines to our remaining gods and goddesses. And-"

All of a sudden, Rachel started choking on air, as if it were impossible for her to take a breath. Will rushed over and crouched down beside her to attempt to figure out what was wrong. Annabeth placed a comforting hand on Rachel's shoulder and soothed circles over her back.

Percy watched his friends with a sense of dread crawling up his throat but forced his gaze upwards to see Chiron's face twisted into an unrecognizable emotion, which confused him. After about a minute or so of distress, Rachel finally calmed down and sipped out of a water bottle that Will offered her.

As she went to set the bottle down, Rachel's eyes glazed over with a milky white film, and she clung onto Will and Annabeth's hands, as they were the two closest to her.

Chiron immediately trotted over, murmuring curses underneath his breath. "No, no, this isn't possible…"

The voice that erupted from Rachel's throat was raspy and ancient, shooting gooseflesh across his skin and the dread hanging inside of his throat sunk like a rock into his stomach. He held his breath as Rachel gave the next prophecy.

"Poseidon's Prize shall lead the charge

To protect the Chosen One from the Devil at large

The Darkness shall fall by the Rising Sun

While Wisdom's daughter come undone

The Inquisitor's soul the Iron Blade shall reap

Lest the Ghost King's revenge runs deep."

The entire camp seemed to be holding their breath as the tense silence rang out around them. The campfire had morphed from a brilliant golden color to a deep, vicious violet, and shrank to a bubbling simmer.

Percy was the first to move. He shoved away from his spot on the bench, an inhumane fury raging in his eyes as he glared at Chiron in betrayal and disbelief. Without saying a word, he tore off towards the now storming beach.

"Percy…" Annabeth faltered, getting to her feet. He turned around to cut her off with a look that screamed 'I can't do this. Not again.' His harsh gaze must have gotten the point across, because she didn't pursue him.

After about thirty seconds, he could hear people behind him erupt with questions.

"I thought the Oracle wasn't working?"

"What happened to the usual green mist?"

"The Chosen One? The devil at large?"

"The Ghost King? Nico?"

Chiron stomped his hooves into the dirty to snatch everyone's attention before chaos broke out, but Percy couldn't hear what was said. If he was being honest, none of those questions had even crossed his mind. He could only process the fact that he was the subject of yet another prophecy, and that his and Annabeth's plan to have a normal life would have to be put on hold.

AGAIN.

When Percy reached the edge of the water, he cried out in fury and threw out his arms. How could the gods do this to him again? Hadn't he done enough for them? Saved their godly asses more times than he could count?

The waves in front of him worked themselves into a frenzy as a result of his mood. Before he had the chance to even attempt to calm down, a sharp, amused voice called out behind him.

"Percy Jackson."

He whipped around hotly, the ocean roaring behind him. The woman was dressed in long dark robes with slick black hair tied up into a high Egyptian ponytail. She was accompanied by two animals, a large black Labrador Retriever and a smaller, weasel-like creature Percy recognized as a polecat.

"Hecate." The name rolled off his tongue with distaste.

"You are angry, young demigod." She observed lightly, which only served to make Percy even angrier.

"You think so? What possibly could have given you that impression?" He sneered, not caring how rude he was acting towards the goddess of magic.

"I understand your…frustration. But, before you start blaming the gods, there is something you should know." The polecat chittered furiously and passed gas while the Labrador growled in support of its master.

"And what would that be?" Percy asked, not the least bit interested in hearing another excuse from the gods.

She raised an eyebrow, and gave a sad smile that said, 'You poor, poor dear.'

Percy hated that look.

"The prophecy your Oracle friend gave tonight…it did not come from the gods. Apollo is a little busy at the moment getting reprimanded from his father."

He narrowed his eyes, unable to allow himself to trust the word of the goddess. "If the Oracle of Delphi didn't issue that prophecy, then who did?"

"Something else. I cannot give you any more information until you accept this quest, Percy Jackson. But, know this: If you choose to forgo your destiny, the modern world as you know it will fall to its knees. Powerful forces are at work, and the mortals will be powerless to stop what is coming without your help." She finished by giving him another dangerous smile that glinted in the darkness and disappeared in a cloud of smoke without another word.