So I think I've figured out how I'm going to work through this story and hopefully get some of the SON characters into it. Rick Riordan's Reyna will probably not make an appearance, since I already have the character of Reyna developed for my story. Dakota probably won't change either, though I might throw in some Kool-Aid jokes for the heck of it. Hazel is still up in the air. I had written her in as a daughter of Trivia in Journey to Greece, and I don't think I mentioned her at all in Heart of a Hero, so it is possible I could bring her in as her cannon, though she wouldn't be as big of a character as she is in the series. I really want to get Frank in there… though I'm still working on how to do that. I have an idea, which I actually think is a pretty good one, but I'm just not sure.

It was a dreary, rainy, March afternoon in New York City. A young, blonde girl walked down the street confidently. This young girl walked with her head held high, a look of importance etched on her kind face. Her brown eyes glistened with knowledge from underneath her hood. She wore a purple t-shirt covered by a silver rain jacket and a pair of faded blue jeans tucked into black rain boots with colorful polka dots. Anyone who passed her on the streets as she walked through Manhattan thought she was a normal teenage girl. But underneath her hood she hid an odd circlet thing that was designed with silver and gold metal wrapped together that sat across her brow like an Ancient Greek royalty. Also hidden under her jacket was a silver necklace adorned with a crescent moon charm.

As the girl walked the streets, she looked up at the tall skyscrapers of the city. She was looking for one building in particular: an apartment building located in the upper east side of the city. When she did find the apartment building, she wasted no time making her way up to the fifth floor. She knocked on the door of an apartment, pretty sure it was the one she was looking for.

Sure enough, a few minutes after she knocked, a tall black haired boy opened the door. He looked about eighteen, with sea green eyes that had a look of confusion in them when he saw the girl standing at the door.

"Reyna?" the boy asked. His voice was etched with worry. "What are you doing here?"

Before Reyna could answer, a female voice called out from the apartment.

"Percy? Who is it?"

Percy turned his head into the apartment. "It's Reyna," he answered.

A few seconds later, a blonde girl appeared in the door behind Percy. She was a few inches shorter than him, but appeared close to the same age. When she saw Reyna standing out in the hallway, her stormy gray eyes widened. She knew there was no reason Reyna would be here unless something was wrong. Without saying anything, she reached out and grabbed Reyna's hand, pulling her into the apartment.

"Annabeth," Reyna said, "What…"

Annabeth released Reyna's hand and turned to face her, crossing her arms over her chest in the process.

"What are you doing here?" she asked in a serious tone.

"I asked the same thing," Percy said.

Ignoring Percy, Reyna looked at Annabeth curiously. "I thought you were in San Francisco."

"I was," Annabeth said. "But I started getting swarmed by monsters so I had to leave. I came here thinking Percy could help me figure out where to go."

Reyna nodded. "Okay. Either way I'm glad both of you are here. Something's up. Nico contacted me the other day saying he's been having funny dreams. It sounded a lot like the dreams you guys had had."

Percy and Annabeth exchanged glances. They hadn't seen Reyna in many months, and the last time they had seen her… Now she was telling them one of the other demigods who had fought in the Giant War was having weird dreams.

"Why would he be having the dreams?" Annabeth asked, though she knew the answer already.

Reyna sighed. "Gaea is scared of demigods… and I don't think it's just the ones that fought in Greece. Our generation is the most powerful generation of half-bloods in hundreds of years. I think Gaea believes the next generation might actually be more powerful."

"The next generation?" Percy asked.

"Well, not exactly the next generation," Reyna said. "It's more like the next group… the next generation would be our kids. They would be powerful, but I'm pretty sure Gaea is afraid of the group after us." Reyna pursed her lips. "Actually… I think she's scared of our combined groups. You remember the prophecy right?"

Annabeth nodded and recited the lines from the most current Great Prophecy that Rachel had given about a year and a half ago.

"Greeks and Romans, at last combined,

Return the heroes with fates intertwined.

Worlds torn apart with hate and sorrow,

Few remain, but more shall follow.

Search with their eyes to find the light,

Only one life can set things right.

Until the end must they remain,

The god, the hero, and the lost love to reclaim."

When she finished, she looked at Reyna curiously. "What does that have to do with it though?"

"My thoughts are," Reyna said slowly. "And this isn't exactly what's going to happen. Dad hasn't let me know that. But what I think is that the second line… the one about heroes with fates intertwined… I think that we're the heroes that will be returned."

Suddenly, there was the sound of loud banging on the door. The three all looked at each other as Percy got up to check who it was. He had his hand in his pocket, ready to pull Riptide out if anything went wrong. Annabeth and Reyna sat silently, Annabeth watching Reyna's face to see if she would give any hint of knowing who was at the door.

It was silent for a few seconds when Percy opened the door. Reyna and Annabeth were both holding their breath.

Percy's voice rang out through the apartment. "Annabeth! Reyna! Come here!" His tone sounded urgent.

The two girls ran to the door. When they saw who was standing there, they both gasped. Three boys, all about eighteenish, with scared looks etched on their faces. They recognized them immediately. It was Jason, Leo, and Dakota. They each looked like they had been through Hades and back.

"My gods guys," Annabeth said. "What happened?"

They stumbled into the apartment. It was obvious they were exhausted.

"We have a major problem," Jason said as he collapsed onto the couch. Dakota flopped down into one of the armchairs. Leo didn't even bother to find a chair, but crashed to the floor instead.

"What problem?" Reyna asked. She moved between the three of them, healing they're cuts and other various injuries. Even though she was the goddess of visions and prophecy, she had still been allowed to keep her healing abilities.

"You remember how Piper went to Europe with her dad?" Jason asked. "Well… she was supposed to come back a couple of weeks ago. We were going to meet at her grandfather's cabin in Oklahoma. Only, she never showed up."

"Her plane was probably late or something," Annabeth said, trying to reassure him.

Jason shook his head. "She would've called or something."

"So you think something happened to her in Europe," Percy filled in.

"Something would've had to," Jason said. "Why else would she not have made any contact at all?"

"She did," Leo mumbled. He was laying face down on the floor, so it sounded more "Mmmm dmm."

"What do you mean she did?" Reyna asked.

Leo pushed his upper body off the floor and looked at Annabeth. "You haven't checked your phone recently, have you?"

Annabeth frowned. "No… why are you asking?"

Leo sighed. "Halley called her mom a few days ago, saying she got a text from Piper."

"It was a warning," Dakota said. "Halley forwarded the message to me."

Annabeth stood up and grabbed her cell phone out of her book bag. She wasted no time scrolling through her messages (which wasn't all that many). She opened Piper's message.

March 5, 11:30 PM

I'm in Paris, but they found me. I'm okay, but I'm not going to be able to come home any time soon. Something's happened... guys, be careful. Gaea has agents out looking for us. Don't let them get you too.

-Beauty Queen

She read this message out loud so the others could hear it. When she finished, Reyna stood up from her seat.

"It's worse than I thought," she said, biting her lip. "I'll go do some more research. Maybe I can go to Europe to find Piper."

"Halley's already headed that way," Dakota said.

That news wasn't exactly accepted well. The others in the group stared at him like he was crazy. Leo jumped to his feet. "Why didn't she tell anyone? Is she insane?" He paused for a second, considering what he had just said. "Actually, ignore that last statement. I'm pretty sure we all know she is insane. What I mean is… does she have a death wish?"

"Leo! Calm down!" Annabeth shouted. "Halley obviously told Dakota."

"And she's a highly trained fighter," Percy said. "She can take care of herself."

"But you heard Piper's warning!" Leo protested. "And now Halley's going to find her!"

Reyna studied Leo. "They found you too," she said slowly.

Leo stared at her in shock for a second and then hung his head.

"Leo, what happened?"

He clenched his fists. "It was about a week ago…"

…

"Leo! Leo wake up!"

Leo groaned and rolled over in his sleep. He had been enjoying his dream, which almost never happened, but now someone was yelling at him.

"Leo, wake up or I will hurt you."

He opened his eyes slightly and saw the girl standing at the foot of his bed. She was glaring at him. He couldn't see her very clearly in the dark room and the sleep in his eyes.

"Halley?" he mumbled.

"No, it's Maricel," she said. "But that doesn't mean I'm not capable of hurting you. Halley did train me. Now get up!"

"What time is it?" Leo grumbled as he sat up. He looked at Maricel. She looked a lot like Halley, her half-sister, but lacked the sharp body features that distinguished Halley as a daughter of Mercury. She also wasn't as tall as Halley had been when she was

"Three in the morning," Maricel said shrugging. "Maybe two. Mom sent me to tell you that you're in a whole lot of trouble."

That woke Leo up. He jumped to his feet and grabbed his tool belt and sword. "Why didn't you say that first?"

"You wouldn't have heard me… I know how hard it is to wake you half-bloods up when you're having one of your demigod dreams."

Leo cursed as he ran towards the door, just to be met by Halley and Maricel's mom Christine.

"Leo!" she exclaimed. "You need to get out of here!"

"What's going on Mrs. Ramirez?" Leo asked.

"There's no time to explain," Christine said as she pushed him and Maricel out the door. "I already have you a bag packed downstairs Leo. You too Marci."

"Wait, what?" Maricel asked. "Me? Why me?"

Christine stopped in the middle of the hallway. She grabbed onto Maricel's shoulders and looked her daughter in the eyes. "Now listen to me, both of you," she said. "Halley sent me an Iris Message last night telling me about a text message from Piper. She didn't give me a lot of details about what Piper had said, but she did say that you needed to get out of here as soon as you could Leo. She said that she was scared something would happen if you stayed here any longer. That's why you have to leave."

"I still don't understand while I'm leaving," Maricel said.

"It's for your own good sweetie," her mother said. "Me and your father will be fine, but I need you to go with Leo." She looked at Leo. "I need you to protect her, Leo."

"Sure Mrs. Ramirez," Leo replied. He glanced at Maricel. "I promise I'll keep you safe, Marci. And not just because Halley would kill me if I didn't."

The three of them ran down the stairs quickly and Christine threw them each a bag. "Be careful, please."

She wrapped them each in a hug and then sent them out the door. Maricel turned and looked back at her house.

"I can't leave my parents, Leo," she whispered.

Leo grabbed her hand. "They'll be fine Marci. But we won't be if we don't get out of here." He dragged her out to his car. "Jump in and buckle up."

Maricel didn't argue, but jumped into the passenger seat as Leo started the car. Leo wasted no time putting the car into gear and speeding out of the driveway. While he did, he thought back to what Christine had said about Halley.

"Halley's in trouble," he murmured. "But I don't know how to help her. Why would she not contact me if she needed help?"

"Maybe she did," Maricel said. "I mean, Mom said she called. Maybe she was trying to get a hold of you. After all, you were in the shop for a long time last night."

Leo gripped the wheel tightly. He knew Halley well enough to know she wouldn't have called her mom if she was being followed unless there was something bigger going on. Halley loved her mom, and she wasn't scared to talk to her about normal problems, but when it came to problems from the demigod world, Christine wasn't Halley's number-one go-to person.

Leo glanced over at Maricel. How good would she be if they had to fight?

"I can fight, Leo," she muttered, answering his unspoken question.

"How'd you…"

"What else would you be worried about?" Maricel stated. "Except Halley, of course."

"Halley would kill me if I let anything happen to you," Leo said.

"Nothing will. She trained me herself. Sure, I don't have the natural fighting abilities you guys do, but I'm decent enough to hold my own."

Leo nodded and continued driving. He kept driving for a few hours, fighting off drowsiness while Maricel slept. When she woke up, she mumbled something about needing to use the bathroom. Leo couldn't help but laugh as he pulled off at the next gas station.

They were the only customers in the store. The old guy at the counter winked as Maricel walked by. She glared at him as Leo wrapped an arm around her protectively.

"Creep," she muttered under her breath. Leo couldn't help but grin at her.

They finished in the store quickly, but when they walked outside to the car, they were met with the rear end of a huge lion. Leo pushed Maricel over behind a firewood crate.

"Keep your head down. That's not the Nemean, but it's probably very closely related."

"How do you know it's not the Nemean?" Maricel asked.

"Not big enough," Leo muttered. "Percy told me about his run in with the Nemean once… I'm pretty sure this isn't him."

They sat in silence for a second. Leo silently cursing under his breath.

"L...Leo, I need to tell you something," Maricel said shakily.

"Shhh," Leo whispered. He glanced to where is car was parked. He hoped the lion wouldn't find it, because that was their escape route. If only Maricel didn't have such a small bladder. "Tell me when we get out of here."

Maricel looked out towards the lion. It was circling the building they had just exited, tracking Leo's scent.

"Okay Marci," Leo whispered, "here's what were going to have to do. I need you to take the car, nonchalantly. You're gonna pop the trunk, give me about five seconds to jump in, and drive off as fast as you can."

"Why?"

"Because we need to get out of here," Leo said. "Don't worry; I'll distract the lion while you get the car."

"Won't it just pounce on the car when you jump in?"

"That's why you're getting our tell ends out of here ASAP." he looked at her skeptically. "You can drive right?"

Maricel nodded. "Don't know how well I'll do being chased by a two-ton lion."

"You only have to for a little while," Leo reassured her. "And I'll be up there as soon as I can. The back seats open up to the trunk."

"Okay," Maricel muttered. "But be careful Leo."

Leo nodded and stood up from his hiding place. By that time, the lion had discovered what direction his smell was coming from. At least, Leo assumed that it was his smell. Maricel didn't exactly have a demigod smell to track. Leo knew he did. He wasn't quite eighteen, and apparently his scent wasn't as strong as it had been when he was younger, but he knew that he had a pretty strong aura compared to most normal demigods. That probably meant that Leo's scent at eighteen would be about as strong as a normal half-blood's scent at fifteen or sixteen.

"Hey hairball!" Leo yelled.

The lion turned towards him. After studying him for a second, the beast roared.

"Yeah, yeah, I hear ya," Leo said. "Say, you got a name? Or should I pick one for you? I've got to call you something."

The lion growled, a deep throaty sound that Leo more so felt than heard. Out of the corner of his eye, Leo could see Maricel sneaking towards the car. He had to keep the lion from seeing her, though he doubted that the lion would care much about a quirky mortal girl.

"I could always call you 'Leo'," Leo continued. "Pretty good name if I do say so myself. Especially for a lion. Doesn't Leo mean lion?"

Leo was surprised that Maricel hadn't doubled over laughing at him yet. He was pulling the trick Halley had taught him… talk the ears off your enemies and you stand a better chance of getting out of whatever bad situation you're in.

He could've kept talking for a long time, but unfortunately, the lion turned away from him.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Leo asked. The lion was getting dangerously close to catching sight of Maricel. He was still hoping the thing wouldn't pay attention her. She was just a mortal… no threat at all.

Desperate, Leo threw a fireball at the lion. The beast turned, roared, and pounced. Leo jumped out of the way in just enough time to not get flattened. He sprang to his feet, wishing he had his tool belt or some other kind of weapon. Unfortunately, his tool belt was in the car.

Flame wouldn't keep the lion at bay long. But if Leo could hold him at bay long enough for…

The sound of a car engine filled the air. Leo looked over to the car. So did the lion. In a split second of recognition, the lion turned from Leo to the car. It crouched, ready to pounce.

"Marci!" Leo yelled, realizing what was happening. "Get out of there!"

That's when everything seemed to happen at once… but it happened in slow motion. The lion pounced. But before it landed on the car, a flash of white light engulfed it. Leo felt the blast from the light. It was freezing cold, and strangely familiar. Leo turned away from the car until the light dimmed.

When he turned around, he saw the car was completely destroyed. Maricel was laying a little ways away from the wreckage. The lion was nowhere in sight.

Leo quickly ran to where Maricel was laying.

"Marci? Marci, wake up!"

Maricel groaned as Leo helped her sit up. "What happened?" she asked.

"I was about to ask you the same thing," Leo stated. "What was that flash of light?"

Marci shook her head. "I don't know. The lion pounced, and I had to defend myself. Something came over me… I don't what it was."

"Is this the first time it's ever happened?"

"No," Maricel said quietly. "I… I was going to tell you, but I never got a chance. Halley's the only one that knows anything about this. She was trying to figure out what was going on, but she never got back to me about it." She looked up at Leo with a childlike innocence in her eyes. "Do you know what it is?"

Leo frowned. "I'm sorry Marci, but I've never seen anything like this before. I mean… it would make a lot more sense if you were a half-blood, but you're not."

Maricel lifted her hand and stared at it. "It doesn't make sense," she murmured.

"Here, let me see your hand," Leo said.

As soon as he took her hand, a freezing cold shock went through his body. Leo yelled in pain. Something was wrong. This wasn't supposed to happen.

"Leo," he heard Maricel say. Her voice sounded far away. Leo could feel himself slipping into unconsciousness. "Leo!"

That was the last thing Leo heard before he passed out completely.

…

"When I woke up," Leo said, continuing his story. "Marci had managed to jack another car. She was driving us down the road. I woke up in the backseat, my head spinning. I knew something was different. I was cold, but it wasn't a normal kind of cold. I get cold on the outside like everyone else, but I always have a kind of interior warmth. I woke up, and that was gone."

"Oh no," Reyna murmured. "Leo…"

He shook his head. "There's more."

Leo then extended his hand, palm up.

"Don't set my apartment on fire, Leo," Percy warned.

"There's nothing to worry about," Leo said reassuringly. He closed his eyes and concentrated.

Nothing happened.

The others in the group stared at him.

"Leo… what happened to your flame?" Annabeth asked.

"I don't know. It's just not there anymore." Leo sounded defeated. "But before you get the wrong idea, it wasn't Marci's fault. She didn't know what was going on anymore than I did."

"Where is she now Leo?" Reyna asked.

"With my mom," Dakota said, standing up from his chair. "She should be okay there. No one really cares about my life, since I'm just a good-for-nothing son of Mercury."

"That's not true Dakota," Reyna said. "But as long as Marci's out of trouble." She looked at Leo. "You said your powers are gone…"

Leo nodded solemnly. "I can't summon fire anymore."

Reyna frowned. "So obviously, Gaea found you. But why would she have not captured you… or killed you? Why would she just take your powers?"

"How would I know? Maybe I was just too hot for her to handle."

They all groaned. Then Jason sat up. "What if that's what happened to Piper? She said they found her, but she was okay. What if they jacked her powers?"

"How could they do that?" Annabeth asked as she shook her head.

Jason frowned. "Piper's powers come from her voice… if they could figure out how to get rid of her voice, then she would lose her powers."

Annabeth's phone vibrated at the same time Dakota's did. The both glanced at each other and then checked the message.

"It's from Halley," Dakota said.

March 9 6:23 PM

Guys, I'm in Europe. Dakota, I need you here to help me. It's worse than I thought it would be. Gaea has agents everywhere I turn. Tell the others to watch out. Piper's only given me a general idea of where she's hiding. She hasn't told me much of what's going on, but she said that I can't call her. I hate to say it, but I'm scared that we might be up against something worse than the giants.

-FlyGirl

"I'm going," Dakota said. "She said she needed help, and I'm going to help her."

Reyna shook her head. "I don't like this, but you're right Dakota. She needs help. Just be careful, okay?"

Dakota grinned. "Of course. When am I ever not careful?"

Jason coughed. When Dakota glared at him, he grinned sadly. "Just bring them both back, okay bro?"

"Sure thing Jason."

The son of Mercury left the apartment. Reyna looked at the other four.

"I'm going to go do some research. You four stay hidden." She frowned. "I don't know if you need to stay apart or not, but be careful either way."

With those final words, Reyna flashed out. Leaving the others to figure out what they need to do.

So, that was a pretty long chapter. I'm pretty proud of it though :). I hope that it makes sense. I'll be clearing some stuff up in later chapters.

Review!