Ria frowned at the group that had appeared in the middle of their war games. She had been in the middle of helping her cohort dominate in battle when they sort of stumbled into existence in front of her, and Connor Stoll stumbled and collapsed on the ground. She had had to protect him from her own cohort.

Now they were gathered in the courtyard, talking in a way that must have been aimed to look completely casual.

Ria could see how tense Jamie was. She was used to seeing him completely relaxed, even as he fought. He was one of the demigods that she found challenging in the ring because he was so effortlessly good at fighting. A natural. She had seen him getting one-on-one lessons with Percy—who was well-known as the best sword fighter in Camp Half-blood.

Connor looked half-dead, slowly sipping water from the bottle that Katie had handed him. They had only managed to wake him about five minutes ago, after he'd been out for about twenty minutes. If transporting people did this to him, there must have been an insanely good reason for him to do so.

Katie Gardner stood beside Connor, and watching him with worry. That was new. Normally they couldn't even stand within ten feet of each other, but today she was checking on him and even smoothed his hair a bit.

Ria wasn't sure who the other girl was, but she could read the fear that the girl was trying to hold back. She looked like a good breeze would knock her over and shatter her. Not impressive at all.

Andy walked over. "Any idea?"

She shrugged. "Something happened. Had to have been bad for Connor to bring them, especially given how he collapsed. That small girl is petrified and trying not to be. Jamie is tense, which is strange given how relaxed he normally is. It takes something big to get him nervous. At least, that's what I would assume. Katie's worried, and using Connor as an outlet. Reyna and Frank seem to be absorbing whatever it was that they were told."

Andy sat beside her. "Assumptions?"

"The girl, she's the cause for the trouble. Unclaimed, most likely, which is why Connor is taking an interest in her. Katie got caught in the crossfire which is why she's here. Jamie…maybe they grabbed him for some more man-power?" Ria frowned.

Andy was quiet.

"What's wrong?" Ria asked.

"Shelly," He said. He didn't need to say more.

Ever since the last group from Camp Half Blood had left, Shelly had been a serious problem. She'd become more irritable, and defensive. Mopey. And she was taking out all of her frustrations and emotions on the guys, especially Andy.

He'd taken to avoiding her, just to be safe.

Jade attempted to run interference, but there really wasn't anything they had found that helped.

"Dagris, if you're done eavesdropping with Gallus, would you care to join the conversation?" Reyna's voice cut through the distance in a partially scolding tone.

Ria felt her eyes widen slightly. Why would they want her? She was technically still on probatio. Maybe it was because she knew Connor, Katie, and Jamie.

Andy's eyes widened slightly and nodded toward the group. "Better get over there."

Ria nodded and headed over to the group.

"You too, Gallus."

Ria glanced back at Andy, worried. It couldn't be good…or maybe it was good that they were being included. Maybe it wasn't as bad as she had assumed.

From closer, Ria could see that this girl was actually around fifteen. Maybe even a little older. She was just so small and frail that she looked like a twelve-year-old.

Pathetic.

Jamie had finally cut his hair, so he wouldn't have to take time to push it out of his face, which would make him even more efficient on the battlefield. He glanced at Ria, then went back to subtly scanning their surroundings.

But she just realized something else.

They were all dressed up…suits and dresses dressed up. Katie and the other girl both had flowers in their hair and were wearing makeup and nicer shoes than the normal footwear used at camp. Connor probably would have looked more dapper if he hadn't ripped a hole in the knee of his pants and his hair wasn't all over the place. Jamie looked like he had just casually walked here in a three-piece suit.

That's when she knew that it was really bad.

"What's up?" She asked hesitantly.

"This is Petunia," Katie introduced the other girl. "She's a daughter of Persephone."

Oh.

Oh damn.

Andy let out a nervous laugh. "This is going to be really bad, isn't it?"

Connor inhaled sharply. "It's about to get worse."

Ria followed his gaze and saw Rachel, the oracle of delphi, was walking slowly toward them with green smoke billowing out of her mouth.

That was how their quest started.

AN: So...you're probably thinking "What the heck? These aren't one-shots!" and you're right, which is why the parts posted here that go together-the ones with Ria, Petunia, Jamie, and Andy-are all going to be edited and become part of their own story, Asters and Warhammers. There's going to be stuff added to the parts here, since I was trying to keep these under/around a thousand words and chapters for my stories tend to be well over a thousand. Because of this...movement...I really do need some prompts or characters for this one. Sure, I can come up with my own, but it's fun to hear what y'all want! Drop me a line in the reviews, or send me a private message! As always, Thanks for reading!