Broken Oath

Chapter One

Her eyes fluttered open, she observed around her. Taking in the room, she was in a bed, in a room that looked like a normal house and that was when she noticed the man sitting next to her, the same one that she had seen just before she had passed out. With windswept raven black hair and an interesting shade of eyes, sea green. He was tan, athletic and staring at her, he looked directly into her eyes and something clicked in them. A knowing look crossed his face before returning to the neutral one that had been there just a moment ago. He smiled at her, and it was so warm, so comforting and immediately put her at ease. His smile was disarming and she was immediately wary at how calming it was.

Every single time she had thought she was safe, she was wrong. Her life had been a constant trip of danger, everything always went wrong. It was as if she was perpetually living Murphy's law. He must have noticed her tense because he raised his hands in a placating gesture.

"Easy, easy. You're safe, nothing can harm you here." His voice was calming and reassuring too, she felt as if she could easily trust him. But still she remained wary.

"That's what they all say." She snapped angrily, surprised to here how hoarse her voice was. He nodded, unfazed by her angry tone. It was as if he understood her completely, like he had gone through what she had gone through as well. She could see sorrow in his beautiful sea green orbs, whether it was for her or for himself. She wasn't completely sure, but she could also see sadness. Like his life was just as miserable as hers.

"I understand, I really do. But I promise you, you are safe here." At his declaration she relaxed, something in her mind was telling her trust this man. That he was good and just, she could not explain it but he was just warm and inviting. Maybe, she finally had someone who would look out for her.

"What's your name?" She asked him softly, her voice still rough and ragged. He put his hand out and gestured towards the glass of water that was sitting next to her, she looked speculative but deemed it safe enough to drink and she nodded in appreciation to him after she set the glass down.

"Percy Jackson, and yours?" He said with a large smile, she was beginning to really like his smile. It was so nice and safe, calming and relaxing.

"Zoe, I don't know my last name." She looked down as if embarrassed, but Percy placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. His touch was warm and it was the first friendly contact that she had had in a long time. She flinched slightly, but then leaned in. She wasn't really sure if Percy had noticed or not because his expression remained unchanged.

"It's alright, Zoe. Don't worry about it." She relaxed slightly at his words, but it was still kind of embarrassing that she didn't even know her own name. The two just sat there for a while, in a comfortable silence. Zoe was just glad she had one place where she could be safe. But, she was beginning to wonder how long it would last, and when her newfound companion would ultimately have to leave her. For some reason, she was already beginning to get sad. She already really liked Percy and didn't want him to leave her.

She had just about lost everybody in her life. She was hoping that finally luck may be on her side, just this once.

"How old are you?" She wondered, breaking the momentary silence. He didn't seem to be that old, he looked like he could still be a teenager, but his eyes said a different story. They were as if he had been alive far too long. It was really odd.

He grimaced slightly at the question, before reaching up and scratching his head. As if he were pondering his age. "Uh..." He paused, his eyes closing slightly. "20, I think." That hit her like a sack of bricks, maybe he really was like her. Did he not really know his own age?

Percy raised an eyebrow at her, silently asking her the same question back. She looked down, "I think I'm 19." She said and at that Percy frowned heavily. She looked at him in surprise, it was the only negative emotion she had seen on his face so far. "What?" She questioned, curious as to why he was upset at your age.

"You're old." He whispered, barely audible for her to here. "They always break their rules." He murmured. His eyes went glassy for a moment, before she snapped her fingers in front of him. He did not seem very pleased right now.

"What are you talking about? Who?" He raised a hand to calm her.

"You'll understand soon enough, I promise." He smiled again to reassure her, but it did not reach his eyes this time. The silence between the two began again, but it was not as comfortable as before.

"Where are we?" She asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

He smiled at her again, and she was again surprised at the warmth that passed through her. "Camp Half-Blood, Long Island, New York." Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion, New York? Camp Half-Blood? She wondered, this was the place that woman in her dreams had told her about. The one who looked exactly like her, she always thought she was just having dreams of her mother. But how did her dream know of this place specifically. Percy seemed to notice her predicament.

"What's wrong?" He asked softly.

"A woman in my dreams, she told me about this place. She looked exactly like me so I always thought I was just picturing my mom, but how did she know the name of wherever we are?" Her head was starting to hurt, she was just so utterly confused.

Percy looked as if he didn't really want to tell her this, but he began to speak anyways. "Because Zoe, that actually was your mom. I hate to break this to you, I really do, but the Greek gods and goddesses are all real, the entire mythology is real, even the Roman gods and goddesses are all real. That was really your mom speaking to you, she is a goddess."

Zoe's jaw dropped in shock, she looked at Percy one more time to see if he was trying to make a joke but he looked deadly serious. "You're not joking." She whispered. He shook his head.

"No, I'm not."

"You're telling my that they're all real." At his nod, she just started staring of into the distance, she did not want to believe it. But deep down, she had always known. Everything that she had seen so far in her life, the creatures trying to kill her and everything. But she had always just assumed that something was wrong with her, all the people that she had ever been around reminded her that constantly. But now, Percy was telling her that she wasn't crazy, that everything that had happened to her actually made sense. That just made her want to believe it more.

"You seem to be taking this rather well." He pointed out. Zoe looked at him, and he did not look that surprised at all at her reaction. It was like he already knew everything about her, as if he could read her thoughts and memories. There was just that feeling when it came to him, or maybe he was just really good at empathizing. She wasn't too sure.

She looked Percy in the eyes and accepted the truth, that these gods and goddesses he had spoken of were actually real. "Who's your parent then?" She asked, he paused for a moment. Slightly stunned at how quickly her surprise had gone away and how easily she had believed him.

"Poseidon, god of the seas." He answered her with a smile.

Poseidon. She wondered, wasn't he a powerful god? "Poseidon was an elder god right? What does that mean for you?" She wondered curiously.

Percy raised an eyebrow slightly at her but nevertheless started to explain. "Yes, he is one of the elder Olympians and one of the most powerful. As for what it means to me, it means that I get some of his powers, control of water and stuff like that." She looked at him in awe, he could really control water? But then he continued with the harsh reality. "But it also means that I am an enemy to a lot of monsters and gods, it makes me more likely to be hunted down than other kids from other gods and goddesses." He saddened a bit at his own words before his smile returned. "I've almost died a lot, being a child of Poseidon is a gift and a curse." He explained to her and she frowned, she had thought it was really cool but from what he was saying it was more likely that he had nearly died a lot just because he was the son of the sea god and honestly that just sucked.

"I'm sorry." She said.

"Don't be." Percy disarmed her with a grin. He was really cute. She thought.

"Who do you think my parent is?" She asked him. Percy opened his mouth to speak but a knock on the door cut him off, he turned towards it.

"Come in." He said.

The door swung open and her jaw dropped a bit as a horse walked through the door, but it wasn't just a horse. He had the body of a man.

At her look of awe, Percy chuckled a bit, bringing her out of her reverie. She sheepishly scratched her head and looked at what she assumed to be a centaur, half horse, half man.

"Finally awake my dear." He said endearingly and with a smile, she was surprised at how kind his voice was for ho tough and ragged he looked, but nevertheless it was nice. "I am Chiron, and I train all demigods, like you. Percy has explained to you already about the Greek gods?" He questioned.

"Yes, he had just started to explain it to me." He nodded and looked at Percy, she noticed their eyes darting back and forth as if they were asking each other questions without even speaking, it was something she had never seen before, these two seemed to have a strong bond.

"Good, I did have some concerns, Percy is not always the brightest of my students." Percy gave an indignant huff that both she and Chiron chuckled at for a few moments. Before a slight pause came over the three of them. "What is your name." Chiron asked, breaking the silence.

"Zoe." She responded and he smirked at that.

"Named after a great heroine, no doubt." His dark brown eyes, almost black stared at her. But he did not seem like he was going to do anything to her. "If you do not mind, Zoe. I wish to borrow Percy for a moment." Chiron cantered towards the door and stepped out, Percy trailing behind him and closing the door behind him.

Obviously she was curious and she knew they were going to be talking about her so she rose from her bed, her legs wobbled and pain shot through her body so harshly that she almost fell. She steadied herself and limped towards the door, wondering why she was in so much pain. She pressed her ear up against it and could hear their hushed voices behind it.

"Impossible, she cannot be..." She heard Chiron mutter.

"I'm telling you, she is, she looks exactly like her. Do you know what this means?" Percy said quietly to Chiron. She knew they were talking about her, but what exactly they were talking about she had no idea. She didn't hear Chiron say anything, for a moment the two were silent. Until Percy continued. "It means, the lord of the skies is not going to be happy when he finds out." Lord of the skies? She wondered, Zeus? Why didn't Percy just say his name? She wondered, confused.

"There will be an uproar that is for sure." Chiron confirmed Percy's words and Zoe was beginning to feel a sense of dread grip around her heart. Was she already in trouble in this new place? Would she already have to leave? She really hoped not, she really liked Percy. He was kind and her gut was telling her to trust him with her life.

"She's 19 Chiron, she's been hidden because of it I'm sure. We all know he isn't very understanding, it may not be her fault but he will try to get rid of her like it is." She paled, something bad was going to happen to her. She was sure of it, and both Percy and Chiron seemed to be sure of it as well.

"I know you're thinking about something Percy, what is it?" Chiron asked him. She wanted to go back and lie down, forget this conversation between the two never happened. But she was glued to the door, she really regretted getting up and eavesdropping on the two of them. For a few moments, Zoe wasn't really sure if Percy was going to answer Chiron's question. Eventually she heard the son of Poseidon sigh deeply.

"Honestly Chiron, I'm just thinking how fucked up our lives have been." He said really bitterly.

"I truly am sorry my boy."

"Chiron, I won't let them do anything to her." She heard Percy state confidently, and her heart warmed that she finally had someone to care about her and Percy seemed more than willing to help her. But the biggest question that made her feel a little worried was, who was coming after her, and what were they going to do to her?

"Maybe, you're wrong Percy." Chiron tried to reassure him. "Nothing might happen."

"Unfortunately, I know I'm right." Percy said. "What do you want to do?"

"Bring her to dinner, hopefully she is claimed by then and our assumptions our proven wrong. If not, well tonight might be more interesting than we thought." Chiron mused, she heard Chiron canter off away from Percy and she silently crept back over to her bed and lied down in it. Shortly after Percy opened the door and walked back in, his face did not give anything away. Neither happiness or sadness and she was surprised at how well he was hiding his emotions. From her life experiences, men were not very good at it.

He gave her a small smirk, he looked down and saw that the covers she had been resting under prior to their conversation were now under her. He looked her in the eyes and she knew that Percy knew she had eavesdropped on them. She waited for him to yell at her, to reprimand her or to say it aloud. To tell her not to do it again, but he didn't. It was as if he either did not care, or he really did not want to talk about it, she also felt that Percy would have done the same if he were in her position.

For a while the two just sat in a comfortable silence, neither talking to one another and Percy just sat there keeping her company. She was happy someone was finally here with her, someone who understood her. She tried to push what Percy and Chiron had said out of her mind and she felt her vision starting to blur and she started to become drowsy.

She looked at Percy, who once again smiled brightly at her. "Go ahead, dinner's not for a while, get some rest. I know it's a lot to take in." He said, and she didn't even respond, instead she just let sleep overcome her.

For once, she didn't see horrifying dreams or see her mother. It was the first peaceful rest she had gotten in a long time.

Zoe awoke to the sound of a horn, she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and saw Percy sitting next to her still. He yawned as if he had just woken up as well, he stretched his arms outward as he stood up from the chair. "Have you just been sitting there the whole time? Don't you have other things to do?" He chuckled at her.

"Actually no, you'd be surprised at how little I have to do, and Chiron kind of asked me to keep an eye on you." He said rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "Horn means dinner time." He said with a chuckle, she rose shakily and almost fell but Percy caught her and steadied her. "Easy does it." Her face burned, this was so embarrassing. She thought to herself.

She started following him to the dining area as he explained. "There's a table for each god and goddess, and the rule is you have to sit at that table to eat." Oh, she wondered where she would go since she didn't know her godly parent. As if reading her thoughts he continued. "For those who haven't been claimed, they go and sit with the Hermes table. That doesn't happen often, usually everyone is claimed now when they get to camp." He explained and she nodded.

"You sit at the Poseidon table with your siblings?" She questioned, he frowned slightly and for whatever reason she felt bad for making him upset.

"No, I sit alone. I don't have any siblings, my father doesn't really have children often." He said and she wanted to ask why, but she didn't want to make him more upset. They reached the pavilion and she noticed there were hundreds of people sitting at different tables, with one large table where Chiron and another man sat.

"These are all children of gods and goddesses?" She questioned, her mouth opened slightly in shock.

Percy nodded. "Yes, they really can't keep it in their pants." Percy grumbled, seemingly frustrated with that. Thunder rumbled in the sky above him but he didn't seem to care. "Come here, follow me." She noticed everyone's eyes locked on her as she walked past their tables and to what she assumed was the head table.

As she reached the head table their was a collective gasp, stunned cries and even some yells of anger. She turned to Percy because she didn't understand what was going on, he was looking above her head, but unlike the rest of the camp he didn't seem surprised, he instead gave a defeated sigh. "Shit." He muttered. She looked above her and noticed a glowing moon symbol above her head. She watched Chiron rise.

"All hail Zoe, daughter of Artemis, goddess of the moon and hunt."

Then everything went to hell.