New Rome

Percy was sitting on the marble steps leading to New Rome University, waiting for his girlfriend's final class to end so they could walk home together. Technically, Annabeth knew where the apartment was and had a key, but Percy wanted to experience New Rome with her. It was still new for them, they'd only moved in a few months ago, after defeating the Giant Army and saving the world from an evil primordial goddess, or to put it in demigod terms, just another day at the office. For the first time in his life, Percy felt truly safe. He knew it wouldn't be the last time monsters would cause trouble, but it would be nothing compared to Gaea. In any event, for he and Annabeth, the tour of duty was over, now they could live their lives with a semblence of normalcy. Percy gazed out at the city before him. The classical architecture was gorgeous, even someone like him could appreciate that, and Annabeth hadn't stopped gushing about it since they got here. The people who were walking about in the streets were people like him, demigods, or children of demigods, legacies, the Romans called them. Percy had never thought about having kids before. For that matter, he'd never even allowed himself to imagine what it would be like to turn 18. He'd always assumed he'd be killed well before then. And yet here he was, with Annabeth, and the once inconceivable possibilities were endless. Early retirement never felt so good.

He was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't sense Annabeth approaching until she sat on the step next to him.

"No matter how many times I look at it, I'm still amazed." She muttered softly.

"Yeah," Percy agreed.

"And I don't just mean the city. I mean being here with you, seeing all these adult half-bloods...I'd never met an adult half-blood in my life until I came here. It's unbelievable."

Percy nodded, he'd been thinking the same thing earlier. "It's a new beginning for us."

The walk back home always took them through the plaza, with its constant traffic that reminded them both of New York and the shadow of the five story Coliseum towering over all.

It was late afternoon in the city, and the streets were still lively as ever. Percy and Annbeth were among the steady stream of pedestrians, walking hand in hand towards their apartment and talking about the day's events. They shared some basic courses at the university, but parted ways when it came to degree-specific classes. Annabeth was, naturally, going for a degree in architecture, while Percy was going for marine biology. The professors had taken some getting used to, Percy had to admit. They reminded him a little too much of the strict teachers who always got on his case in high school. Their fellow students too, seemed more uptight and disciplined than your average college-aged youths. Percy had brought all of this up to Annabeth once, but she reminded him that they were the first Greek demigods to attend New Rome University since at least the Civil War, so this was a learning process for the Romans too.

They had nearly reached their block when someone came in from seemingly out of nowhere and nearly crashed into them. Instinctively, Percy reached for his pocket, then remembered that he didn't have Riptide, he'd left it with Terminus at the Pomerian line because weapons were banned in the city. It still felt strange to not have his trusty blade by his side.

The figure in front of them lifted up her hood. She was a middle aged woman, and in fact she looked vaguely familiar, although Percy couldn't figure out just why.

"I'm terribly sorry, young ones. You must forgive me, as you can see, my body is becoming old and frail."

Annabeth shook her head. "It's okay, are you all right?"

"Oh yes, I'm fine. I've suffered far worse, believe me. But you..." She now shifted her gaze to Percy. "You are Perseus Jackson, are you not?"

"Um, yes ma'am, that's me," Percy replied uncertainly.

The woman smiled mysteriously. "Good, good. I have something for you, child." Then she placed a small, thin, rectangular box in Percy's hand. Percy stared at it for a moment, wondering if he should open it-

"Not here," she said, as though reading his thoughts. "Not until you get home, not until you're alone. You'll need it where you're going, trust me."

"Thank you," Percy said slowly.

"Well, I guess we'd better get going," Annabeth said, sensing Percy's discomfort. "It was very nice to meet you, ma'am."

"Likewise," the woman's voice said, but when Percy looked for her again, she was gone.

Percy and Annabeth continued their walk in silence, unsure of what to make of what had just occurred.

A few hours later

"Did the Yankees win?"

Annabeth sat on the couch next to Percy, who was reading the sports section of the Hermes Times (electronic devices were banned, of course, but now that the Greeks and Romans were on good terms, the shops sold the Times, written in Ancient Greek, in concurrence with the New Rome paper, the Mercury Times, written in Latin)

"Boston: 10, New York: zero." Percy said absent-mindedly.

"Gods above..." Annabeth sighed. "This is why I stopped following them years ago."

Normally Percy would have laughed or had some kind of witty response, but right now he just felt distracted. That encounter earlier with that strange woman...it had given him a foreboding vibe that something wasn't right. The box in his pocket had seemed to get heavier and heavier with each passing moment. Percy was now starting to understand how Frank had felt carrying around his firewood.

You'll need it, trust me. Those were her words, he couldn't stop replaying them. What was that supposed to mean, you'll need it? And why did he have to be alone when he opened it? If he couldn't trust Annabeth to know what was inside...then who could he trust?

"Are you okay?"

Percy jolted, shaken fro this thoughts by Annabeth, who was now looking at him with concern in her grey eyes. For a moment, Percy pondered telling her about the ominous feeling, or maybe even disregarding the woman's instructions and opening the box with Annabeth in the room. She might know what's going on and have a solution, like always. But something in his brain, maybe the old cynical demigod in him who saw a loaded trap in everything, was telling him to resist the urge. If it was something bad, he didn't want to drag Annabeth into it.

"Percy? You're really starting to worry me, please tell me what's going on." Annabeth said. And Percy realized he still hasn't answered her first question.

"I-I'm fine," he stammered. "So don't worry."

"Are you sure?"

Percy shook his head. "I'm sure, Wise Girl. Look, I think I'm going to go to bed early tonight. Maybe I'll feel better in the morning."

Annabeth reached out and touched his hand. Her smooth skin offered a measure of comfort to his troubled soul, though it could not remove his burden.

"I'll go with you, I can work on my essay tomorrow."

"No," Percy said quickly, "you should finish it. I promise I'll be okay."

It was a weak argument, and Percy knew it, but Annabeth must have felt truly concerned for him, because she conceded.

"Okay, Seaweed Brain. I won't be long. Get some rest."

Percy managed a smile, he really was lucky to have her. "I will." He brushed some strands of hair from her face, then, on impulse, he leaned in and kissed her. It was one of their longer ones, but it still felt far too short.

In the bedroom

The room was pitch dark, save for the light of the moon streaming through the window. Percy felt through his pocket for the box and took it in his hands. There was nothing remarkable about it, just one of those small cases that people carried fountain pens in. A pen...

He gently opened the case, and sure enough, nestled inside was a bronze pen that looked just like...just like the pen his old Latin teacher Mr. Brunner had given him all those years ago. But it couldn't be, could it?

Percy carefully removed the pen from the case and uncapped it. Just as it had done thousands of times before without fail, Anaklusmos, Riptide, sprang to full form. Impossible

Impossible because Terminus would have instantly detected it. As far as Percy knew, no one had ever successfully slipped a weapon by him before. Not even the shiftiest child of Hermes. And what was that woman doing with Riptide anyways? How did she get her hands on it? But the question that really burned in him was why she had given it to him in the first place. You'll need it, trust me.

If this was some attempt to get him to go on another quest, the gods would have to find someone else, because he was happy where he was. Percy recapped Riptide and watched the pale bronze glow shrink and then disappear, leaving him once more in darkness. He put the pen back in the box and placed it on the dresser, wondering how he was going to convince Terminus tomorrow that he wasn't to blame for this, or how he would tell Annabeth for that matter.

He tried his best to push all these thoughts aside until he finally drifted off to sleep.

To his horror, he dreamed. Percy hadn't had a nightmare like this in months. He was standing in the middle of Camp Half-Blood, but it didn't look anything like the Camp Half-Blood he recognized. The campers, and there were far fewer of them than there should've been, were downtrodden and seemed to have a ragged, hopeless look in their eyes. A girl with blonde hair and green eyes who bore an eerie resemblance to Annabeth was talking to a couple of other campers who also looked oddly familiar. Percy couldn't make out what they were saying, but it seemed like a frantic conversation.

Then a voice forced its way in, Percy knew that voice...

"The gods are blind, Perseus, too stubborn to see the error of their ways, too drunk on their great victory to see the threat right under their own noses."

The trio walked past the Big House; given a situation of obvious peril like this, Percy would have turned first to Chiron, the wise director of the camp. If anyone could have the answers at a time like this...he wondered why they hadn't even tried to reach him?

"I'm afraid mamy things have changed since you last closed your eyes, young one," the voice said, as though reading his very thoughts. "You will have to figure them out on your own. I am bound by the Ancient Law."

The three half bloods started walking faster, Percy knew where they were going now: the Oracle's House. But why? Was there a new great prophecy? How could that be, when they had just defeated Gaea so recently? And why was he being shown this? Was it the future, the past, or some figment of his overactive imagination? His previous experiences with dreams told him that as much as he might have wanted it to be the third option, it almost certainly wasn't.

"Have faith Percy Jackson, I would not have chosen you if I had deemed you unworthy. You are the hero of Olympus, only with your help can they restore peace to the gods."

The three demigods were now running across the green with newfound purpose towards the infirmary, led by a fourth who had apparently gone out to give them news of some importance.

"Now it is time for you to wake, young hero. The hour has come for the prophecy to be fulfilled."

Light.

Like a camera lens, slowly coming into focus, blurry at first. The light was all he saw. Then shapes, people, standing over him...

The ceiling...the ceiling didn't look right. It wasn't the ceiling he had been looking at before. And this wasn't his bed-

"He's waking up," a distant voice said. There was some kind of discussion or argument going on between the figures, until finally one of them walked up to him, close enough to see. It was a girl, she looked familiar, but he knew he'd never seen her before. Blonde hair...green eyes like the sea...

"It's really him."

"It can't be him, I know how badly you want it to be, Caroline, but you know as well as I do that-"

"Will you shut up for just one second, Keno?"

Percy rubbed his eyes and tried to sit up, but the girl stopped him. "You're still weak. Get him some ambrosia."

"Annabeth?" Percy mumbled drowsily. It was so soft that nobody else heard it, but the girl did, and it froze her in place.

"It is you," she whispered.

Percy felt the ambrosia squares being slipped into his mouth, he tasted the warmth of his mother's home baked cookies, and as he drifted back into unconsciousness, he tried to call upon a happy memory, a memory of he and Annabeth going on a date under the glittering lights of New Rome. For once, Percy wished his dream didn't have to end.