Disclaimer: [Yes I decide to do it the fifth time I post] I do not own any of Rick Riordan's amazing characters! Only Cress. She is my lubly oc.

ALSO. *Ahem* I don't pay attention to details. When I first started, I didn't know if it was "Gaia" or "Gaea". I did Gaia, because I searched it up and that was what I saw. I re-read the book, and I saw that they spelled it "Gaea". Shit. AND THEN I searched it up again, and it said that it could be either or. So I will stick with Gaia since it's easier for my scrawny fingers to type. [Don't ask.]

Cress's POV

I felt tears pricking my eyes but I forced them back. I was mad at myself for even thinking of crying. Maybe you're asking me, "why, Cress? Why the fuck are you crying?" Elise and Eric. They were twins, son and daughter of Hecate. They joined Gaia's side because they knew that they didn't have a place at Camp Half Blood. They were there before me, and when spots were open for them to join CHB, they declined. I wanted them to go and live a better life, but they said that they wouldn't leave me. Which makes it my fault that they both died.

Gaia was sending out troops of demigods to prove their worth in their army. Thankfully, I was put in a group with Elise and Eric. We were supposed to track down rogue skeleton hunters and defeat them before causing havoc. Sure, Gaia wanted havoc, but she didn't want them to be an issue later once she was going to rule the world. We set off, and we managed to track them down. It was tough. More than tough, horrifying. Eric was hurt by a fatal blow, and Elise had died trying to help her brother. Eric died soon after, not wanting to fight for life after his sister died. This is another example when my anger got out of control and... to put it the easy way, the skeletons weren't going to see the light of day anytime soon.

"Don't blame yourself for Elise and Eric's deaths. You can't change fate."

I glared at Chiron. How could he be so calm after witnessing so many deaths in his lifetime?

"If they hadn't stayed with me and came to camp to have a better life, they wouldn't have died," I shot back.

Chiron's eyes glistened with pity. Make a girl feel worse.

I muttered, "I-I'm sorry for snapping at you. I'll be outside for a while...if that's okay."

Without waiting for an answer, I opened the door to see three sets of eyes on me. I felt extremely uncomfortable as I shuffled my way to the door and burst out. I started running. I didn't have a specific place in mind, but my feet seemed to have a mind of their own as they took me to a destination I used to call home on rough days here. My problem? Not looking. I stumbled into a boy. Let's just say, he wasn't the tallest. He had stains on his face and grime, giving him the impression he was a Hephaestus kid. Talk about scrawny.

"God! Are people always this short these days?"

"Well I'm sorry, are people always this tall these days? Talk about how short I am and I'll smack you."

"Oh for goodness sake, what do you want me to do, get on my knees to be your level so you would be able to smack me?"

We glared at each other for a moment so I got to study his more finer details. He was Latino, and had ears that pointed up like an elf. His messy curly hair gave me the impression he wasn't a good kid.

"LEO!" I heard a voice yell.

The boy paused before answering, "Yeah, Beauty Queen?"

"I told you not to run ahead of me!"

A different girl with brown hair in a braid burst into the clearing. She stopped and stared at me. "Who are you?"

I felt compelled to answer correctly. "Cress Ja-" I snapped my mouth shut. "Did you just try to charmspeak me?"

She fiddled with her fingers and slurred out a, "Maybe?"

"This girl called me short, Piper! I'll let you know I am just a bit shorter than average!" Leo complained.

The girl named Piper rolled her eyes. "You are short, Leo. Piper McLean," she said casually, as if she didn't just try to charmspeak me.

Something clicked inside my brain. For some reason, the kid Leo made me think of somebody I met a while before with Elise and Eric. "Did you say Leo?"

He looked at me odd, like I grew dog ears. "The one and only!"

"Valdez?"

"Yep. How'd ya guess? Heard of me before?" He raised his eyebrows and flexed his biceps. Just to be clear, he didn't have any. Piper made a strangled sound that sounded like a snort and a cough.

"Any chance a name like Elise or Eric clicks?" I asked, eyeing him.

He stared at me up and down now. "You're a stalker?"

I gave him a look. Not just any old look, one that said you better answer my questions now, boy.

"Yeah, why?"

"Nothing."

Piper cleared her throat. "Leo, you said you would take me to Chiron?"

He seemed relieved to have an excuse to leave. "Yes! Uh- to the Big House we go!"

Leo started to push Piper in one direction, and I headed off the other. I guess I wasn't in a hurry anymore, as I stumbled upon a tree stump that had an open corridor. Bunker 9. Looks like people found it. I peeked in, checking if anybody was there. There was a huge ship, a beauty you could say. It had a dragon head at the front, and it looked like it got beaten up pretty bad. I stepped into the room and took a slow circle to see the place. It looked more... lived in.

I walked over to a secluded corner of the place. I crouched down and punched in some combinations in the safe I had hidden in the walls. It creaked open, and I slowly brought out my dual wield jet black guns. They looked new as ever, and I pocketed it along with some celestial bronze bullets. I had made the gun several years back, only for emergencies. Now wasn't an emergency, but I felt like I needed to take it now or never. They were small, pistol size, but I had made tons of modifications to it's power before I felt CHB.

I felt like I was being watched and I whipped around.

"What are you doing?"

I wasn't alone as I thought.

YEAH, I COULDN'T HAVE THIS SERIES TAKE PLACE BEFORE TRIALS OF APOLLO AND NOT HAVE MY BABY LEO VALDEZ

Anyways, just wanted to put that in. Yes, this takes place in the Winter before Trials of Apollo. Love 'yall, and I wanted to put out there that I may not be updating this story in a while, but I will be uploading some one-shots! [I hope] :)