Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

Thank you all who were interested enough to read this, especially to those who either reviewed, subscribed, or both, especially DarkLove12489 and ChristieLaurenn.

A quick foreword, there will be a flashback toward the end of this chapter. The rest of them should have flashbacks too. Flashback text will be cut off from the rest of the chapter and be italicized; you'll be able to tell. Some chapters may be flashbacks alone; I'll let you know when that happens.

I'm not going to use years in any dates if I can help it, because this story will be based off my own timeline.

Now, enough of me rambling, let's begin.

Percy stared at the envelope in his hands, closed shut with a golden seal. He'd found it on the dresser, the letter having suddenly appeared out of thin air.

There was no return address, nor was there a stamp.

Only the words 'Percy and Annabeth Jackson' inscribed on the front, written in a gold color to match the seal.

He knew where it was from, that much was obvious. But despite the letter's origin, he couldn't bring himself to open it. No matter how elegant the envelope appeared to be, Percy knew that the message was anything but good.

Percy and Annabeth, as well as a good majority of other adult half-bloods, had known about the monster outbreak since the day it happened. They'd also anticipated that it would only be a matter of time before they would be called upon by the gods.

The bedroom door swung open and a little girl came running in, dark curls bouncing with every step.

"Daddy, you have to help me!" She let out a shriek-like giggle and bounded towards her father, "Hide me! They're after me!"

Percy smiled and set the letter down, his worries temporarily forgotten. He bent down on one knee and scooped up his youngest daughter, tossing her into the air and earning himself another squeal, "And just who is after you, Sarah?"

His oldest daughter came in, and Percy's question was answered. She was glaring at her younger sister, which was something that was done on a regular basis so Percy wasn't very surprised.

What did surprise him was that Monica was covered in bright orange paint.

She pointed at Sarah with a trembling finger, "Look what she did!"

Before Percy could respond or do anything, Sarah squirmed out of his arms, squeezed past Monica, and took off down the stairs with her older sister at her heels. He could hear both the girls laughing and shouting, and Percy couldn't help but chuckle.

Annabeth and Monica had been redecorating Monica's room and today they were painting the walls. Of course, he knew something like this would happen when you have two kids whose godly powers were either just beginning to develop or wanted to use them any chance they got.

Percy's eyes trailed back to the letter that was sitting on the dresser and the smile left his face. With Monica and Sarah downstairs and most likely getting paint on every doorknob and piece of furniture in the house, now would be a good time to talk to Annabeth.

He picked up the envelope, resisting every urge to tear it to bits, and headed in the direction of Monica's room. Percy found Annabeth standing in the middle of the room staring at the ceiling. He glanced up to see what his wife was looking at and felt another smile spread across his lips.

The roof of Monica's bedroom was covered in spots of orange.

Percy turned his attention back to Annabeth, "How did –?"

She lifted up a hand and shook her head, "I don't even know."

Percy further assessed the damage his two girls had caused. Two of the walls had a smooth coat of a creamy orange while the other two had both large and small splatters of the same color on them. Trays and buckets of paints had been tipped over; spilling paint onto the plastic floor covering they had spread out earlier that morning.

He couldn't help but laugh a bit and Annabeth glared at him. "This is your fault, you know."

Percy chuckled again and went over to her. He wrapped his arms around her from behind and rested his chin on her shoulder, "And how, exactly, is this my fault?"

"They get their ability to control liquids from you."

He grinned and kissed Annabeth on the cheek, "That doesn't mean this is my fault."

The daughter of Athena turned around to look at him, "Percy, what's wrong?"

"What makes you think something's wrong?"

"I can see it in your eyes."

The son of Poseidon gave up trying to mask his emotions and sighed. He held up the letter in his hands for her to see, "I found this in our room."

Annabeth's eyes widened, "Please tell me that's not what I think it is." Percy didn't say anything and Annabeth frowned, "Well, say something Percy."

"But you told me not to tell you."

She rolled her eyes but couldn't help smiling, "Just open it."

Percy broke the seal and took out the piece of paper inside the envelope. Annabeth watched as his eyes scanned over the words and narrowed with each sentence. After a few minutes of silence, he handed the paper off to her and crossed his arms.

"They want us at Olympus by tomorrow," Percy grumbled.

Annabeth's jaw went slack, "Tomorrow! But we only got the notice today!"

"You know how the gods are; the only schedules that matter are theirs."

Before she could say something, Monica and Sarah came barreling into the room. Both girls were out of breath and grinning from ear to ear. Sarah immediately ran over to Annabeth and hid behind her legs, but Monica stopped in the doorframe.

"What's going on?" The smile was gone from her face and her green eyes were filled with worry.

Percy and Annabeth exchanged glances. She may have only been 10, but Monica was smart enough to know when something seriously bad was happening.

Annabeth sighed and rested her hand atop Sarah's head, "Nothing's wrong, it's just your father and I have some very important news for you."

Percy's eyebrow quirked up, "We do?" His wife glared at him until he finally caught on, "Oh! Yes, we do!" He tickled Sarah from behind Annabeth and lifted her into the air again, causing the little girl to squeal, "And we will be happy to tell you it after lunch."

Monica leaned against the wall, "But what is for lunch?"

The son of Poseidon glanced at Annabeth. She shrugged and smiled, "Why don't we go out for Chinese –"

Her children and husband all cheered and made a beeline for the door, but the daughter of Athena wasn't quite done talking.

"– after we clean this room."

The cheers turned to groans and Annabeth couldn't help but chuckle, she felt so blessed to have a family like them. They were all so close. And no matter what the gods were going to say or do tomorrow, nothing would break them apart.

June: 15 years ago

Nico heaved a great sigh before turning over onto his back.

It had been the first day of camp and everyone was in a good mood. Campers were currently outside, gathered around the very first fire of the summer, singing songs and having a good time. The scent of roasted marshmallows mixed with fresh pine filled the air and laughter echoed throughout the camp.

…And Nico hated it all.

Now, he was happy to be back and really was looking forward to a peaceful year, but he just didn't feel quite right.

He'd been feeling pretty lousy for the past few weeks and almost everything set him off. For example: one moment he'd be full of energy and the next he'd desperately need to rest, sometimes his appetite would be uncontrollable and sometimes the mere sight of food would make him nauseous.

He was irritable, short of temper, and tired. Nico felt great and then pathetic, would sleep past lunch and then not sleep at all, and be at the top of his game and then have no game at all.

He didn't know what was wrong with him.

Nico considered going to Percy or Zeke, but would always feel too embarrassed. This wasn't serious as much as it was annoying.

At least…he thought it wasn't.

A knock sounded off his door and Nico was torn from his thoughts. He moaned and covered his face with a pillow. He wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone. Whoever was at the door knocked again, this time much louder than before.

"C'mon, Nico, we know you're in there! Open up!"

"Go away," was his only reply. He could tell that two people were there, being able to feel people's souls did have its perks. And judging by their power, it was most likely Zeke and Percy. Ever since meeting each other near the end of last summer, the two had become inseparable. Heck, the son of Zeus even went to the same school as Percy. They had been since both were freshmen; Zeke kind of knew he was a demigod but didn't know about camp.

"Nico, this is important. Please open the door."

Yep, it was definitely the dynamic duo. And since they sounded serious, he decided to see what was up. Nico groggily got up from his bed and opened the door. He regretted doing so immediately when his two cousins grabbed him by the arms and dragged him in the direction of the Big House.

Nico started kicking and tried to get out of their grip, but that only made them hold on tighter, "Put me down!"

Zeke flipped his dirty blonde hair, "No can do, half-pint. Chiron needs to talk to us."

"I don't care, now let me go!"

Percy sighed, "Nico, whatever he has to say is important."

"Still not caring," Nico felt his feet begin to drag along something hard and looked down. They were already on the porch of the Big House. Percy let go of his youngest cousin and went in, followed by Zeke who gave Nico a firm push through the door. He glared at the son of Zeus but followed Percy nonetheless.

They eventually came to a table where Chiron sat reading a thick novel. He glanced up from the pages and smiled at the trio, "Ah, I see you've found Nico. Won't you all sit down?" Nico took the seat farthest from everyone and folded his arms across his chest, scowling at the floor the whole time. Chiron's eyebrows knit with worry and he turned to Zeke and Percy, "Is Mr. di Angelo alright?"

Percy cast a sad look in Nico's direction, "We don't know, he's been acting funny all day."

The Trainer of Heroes nodded but decided not to press the matter, "I see. Well, I bet you're wondering why I called you three here. The reason I need to talk to you concerns a half-blood, a rather powerful one that we located about a month ago."

"Wait, if you discovered 'em a month ago, why aren't they here?" Zeke's eyes held immense amounts of curiosity and he leaned forward in his seat.

"That's why I need you three. You see, the girl is quite…slippery. We've sent in three satyrs to retrieve her and she manages to get out from under their noses each time they find her," Chiron folded his hands together on top of the table, "It's very important that we get this girl here as soon as possible, which is why I'm sending you boys to go retrieve her."

Percy's eyes narrowed slightly, "What's so special about this one girl?"

"Oh yes, I was getting to that. The reason she's so special is because she…knows more than a demigod should. The girl knows what she is and who her parent is."

Zeke's brow rose, "And her godly parent is…"

"Hecate."

Nobody said anything for the longest time. There hadn't been a child of Hecate at Camp Half-Blood since…ever.

Chiron glanced at each of the boys, "I need you all to be very cautious around the girl. The satyrs have informed me that she knows how to use her magic well, very well. Please try not to hurt her as well. That is all."

Percy stood from his chair, "We'll bring her here Chiron, no problem."

Zeke stood as well and slung an arm across Percy's shoulder, "Yeah, you can count on us…by the way when do we need to leave?"

Chiron opened his book and flipped to the correct page, "Tonight. I suggest you go pack"

Percy and Zeke left, laughing and joking the whole way about a 'road trip'. Nico sighed and slowly got up from his chair. He was not looking forward to this, not at all.

He wasn't in the mood to drive for hours just to get some rogue half-blood. He didn't care who this girl was, Nico didn't have the energy to go get her. He didn't want to. If she wanted to be free and not get the proper training to defend herself from monsters that was fine with him. She wasn't important to Nico…

…but she would be.

"There are no mistakes. The events we bring upon ourselves, no matter how unpleasant, are necessary in order to learn what we need to learn; whatever steps we take, they're necessary to reach the places we've chosen to go." - Richard Bach

Thanks to everyone who took the time to read, and I hope you all enjoyed it. Feel free to review or comment, the encourage me to write faster. Stay tuned for the next chapter.

~Fantasila~