Disclaimer: I do not own anything from The Heroes of Olympus Series or the things that are referenced. I do have some OCs in here. This story is for entertainment only! No profit is being made.

Setting: AU. Takes Place right after The Lost Hero, during the first two months of the six months before going to camp Jupiter. A beast is attacking the camp and 3 demigods are chosen to find & slay it. A budding relationship between Abram Z. (OC) and Leo V. Rate M for language and (possible) Sex in future chapters. (Heavy Leo and OC. Jason is in it but wont be focused on as much. Trying to stay close to how the books are. Long chapters & POVs

(No Romance in this chapter sorry, but trust me it will come later in a few chapters once they start their quest/mission.)

I

Abram

Even before almost being burned alive in the middle of this dark forest, Abram knew this day was going to get worse.

This morning he awoke to screaming and the sounds of battle throughout the camp. Even though it would still be a few hours for the sun to rise, when he looked out the window near his bed in cabin seven it seemed like it was daytime. He quickly rushed out of the cabin not having time to change. He was wearing his raccoon pajamas, and yes it was a onesie. The character itself was from a T.V show he used to watch as a kid. On his way out he grabbed his quiver full of arrows and his bow that he always kept by his bed.

An orange glow filled the camp as scattered fires were burning trees and working their way down to some of the cabins. There is the trouble, but from what and where did it come from? he thought to himself.

"Quick get those fires out!" Some camp members were yelling over each other trying to get some order through the chaos. Abram scanned the area looking for a place to start. Being half-awake didn't really help him. "The one time Percy isn't here" he mumbled under his breath. "But I guess it's not his fault he is at that other camp." Percy Jackson was the Son of Poseidon, so he naturally had the ability to control water. Something that sounded like tanks roaring into camp could be heard which caused Abram to jerk his head to look for attackers, but instead he saw a group of kids carrying big machines on their back that looked like they came out of Ghost Busters or something.

"Alpha Squad form up on me!" Yelled a voice as a group of campers marched into the middle of the chaos. "Delta squad form ranks over there! Ready . . . NOW!" The mechanical sound of gears whirling echoed off the walls of the surrounding cabins as a foaming liquid shot from the nozzles that the group held in their hands. The fires immediately extinguished as the cool foam touched them. Glorified fire extinguishers. Cabin nine, I swear nothing is simple there. He thought to himself.

The source giving out the orders looked like a Latino Santa's elf, with dark curly hair, pointy ears, a cheerful, babyish face, and, even in this chaos a mischievous smile that told you right away that he should not be trusted around matches or sharp objects. The faint glow coming from the, now not so many, fires added such an effect on him that made him look stunning. Wait, did I just call him stunning? What is wrong with me? Abram thought to himself. He quickly shook away the shock and tried to get his mind off of whatever came over him. "Hey Leo, you guys sure are organized at taking these fires out! Things must catch on fire more then everyone knows over there at Cabin nine!"

"Well, you know, I'm usually the one that starts them. Maybe instead of standing there admiring me you should help out!" Leo replied with his signature smirk.

"I would, but it looks like you guys put all of them out already."

"huh? Oh, I guess we did," He said as he let out a happy whoop. "We're just that good. Wait, are you wearing a Raccoon onesie?" Leo asked. Abram's face turned to a deep shade of red from embarrassment.

"Y -Yes." Abram said reluctantly. "It's from a T.V show."

"What show? It looks really familiar, anyways don't get all embarrassed. They look really cu-"

Their conversation was cut short as piercing roar could be heard in the distance. "That doesn't sound like the puppy I always wanted." Leo said as he took of his goggles and looked towards the forest where the sound came from.

"Uhh Leo, that was more than one monster..." Abram replied.

"Oh, think that maybe they want some of my Tofu Burgers?" He joked as he started to pull a spatula from his tool belt.

"More like a Leo Burger." Abram muttered under his breath.

The camp was once again claimed by the darkness of the night as the last fire was put out by one of Leo's cabin-mates. "So did anyone see what set all these fires in the first place?" Abram said as all the campers gathered towards the center of the courtyard.

"Well judging by the footprints on the ground it had to be something huge." A voice said somewhere in the group of kids. The voice sounded familiar to Abram and he had to squint through the darkness to try to see who it came from. Is it him? He asked silently in his head. The figure pushed though the group and knelt closer to the indentions on the ground and traced his fingers over them. The sounds of hooves could be heard rumbling in the distance, Abram quickly turned around already guessing who it was, but instead of seeing him off in the distance the centaur was standing right behind him almost knocking him off his feet from shock.

"What happened here?" The centaur boomed in a powerful voice filled with concern. By this time torches had been lit to give light to the area reveling the camp director Chiron. The top half of his body looked like a middle-aged guy with thinning brown hair, bushy eyebrows, intense brown eyes and a scruffy beard. From the waist down he was a white centaur.

"Chiron, the camp has just been attacked." The guy said speaking for the group. With the light of the torches, and being taller than the rest of the campers he was able to be spotted quickly, and with the light from the torches Abram could see it was him. It was Jason Grace. He has an athletic body muscular and tanned arms, shaggy blond hair and electric blue eyes. He has a small scar on the corner of his lips. Abram wasn't that close to him to ask him about the story behind that. He had a tattoo on his arm which has the picture of an eagle with SPQR and twelve lines, indicating he has been at the other camp, Camp Jupiter, since he was three or four years old. His golden Gladius hung on his belt by his right side.

"Attacked, by what?" The centaur asked with a puzzled look. It was rare that the camp was attacked due to a magical barrier that protected them.

"I . . . I don't know. I didn't see it". Jason replied with a tone of disappointment in his voice.

"Did anybody see it?" Chiron asked the whole camp. His voice now louder than it was when he was talking to Jason. Muttering and a series of I didn't echoed throughout the courtyard. "Right then, it seems though the danger is over . . . for now. Any volunteers for cleanup?". A few hands went up in the air including Abram's Jason's and Leo's. "Then that's settled. Everyone else back to sleep! You still have a few hours until sunrise."

"Hey Nyssa, could you take this back?" Leo asked stopping one of his cabin-mates as he took off the device he was wearing.

"Yeah, no problem." She replied before quickly walking away.

The herd of campers started to thin until there was only seven people left. "Alright, clean-up crew!" Leo shouted getting a loud SHUSH from everyone else. "Hey, I doubt anyone else is going to sleep after what happened here. He said as he extended his arms and spun in a circle slowly gesturing to the mess around them. A group of kids had gotten brooms and cleaning equipment out from a nearby shed and had given Jason some extra brooms for his group.

"Leo the dim witted janitor. That sort of has a ring to it doesn't it?" Jason chuckled as he tossed a broom at Leo.

"It does doesn't." Leo replied as he started playing air guitar with his broom.

"Lay off Jason. I mean he did just save the camp." Abram said a little coldly although he didn't mean for it to come off that way. "Sorry, it's just so early. . . I just . . . lo . . . love my sleep." He managed to get out through a yawn.

"Leo, The hero of Camp half blood! Maybe I will get a holiday here or something." The tone of his voice seemed like he was convinced it could happen. Jason placed both of his hands on top of the tip of his broom. He gently rested his head on them and looked at Leo like he was an idiot. "I still think dim witted janitor sounds better" He finally said hoping to break Leo out of his trance. It was weird to see Jason so cheerful. He was usually kind of intimidating to people. Abram quickly picked up on the vibe that came off from both of them. It felt like they were as close as two brothers. How he wished he had more bonds that strong with others here at camp. Abram never really got along with anyone here. He considered himself to be a loner. He didn't really talk much to anyone except his cabin-mates and as impossible as it may seem, another demigod, that was his best friend since they were both little. They became fast friends and found out together, after being friends for years, that they were both demigods. Her name was Klarissa, or to Abram, Klari. She wasn't at camp at the moment because she was on her own quest. Abram couldn't help but to be jealous of her. Even though they both arrived at camp together, she was chosen for quest before he was.

"You guys have done more heroic things and been through a lot worse than this, but they still haven't given you your own holiday yet." Abram said as he picked up some debris from a nearby cabin and tossed it into a pile they were making in the middle of the courtyard.

"Yeah, I guess you are right." By this time Leo had stopped playing air guitar and started to sweep up lose nails and small pieces of wood towards the pile.

There was a long silence and after thinking about Leo's reaction Abram regretting saying anything. "Hey, maybe there's a quota and this was the last thing you had to do." He spoke breaking the silence. Leo shot him a smile which made him feel a lot better. "So why did you two volunteer to help clean up?" Abram asked as he threw some more wood on the pile.

"Well I couldn't sleep so I said why not. Gives me something to do." Leo stated as he used his broom as a pole to lean on.

"I would have to say the same thing. Piper's been acting a little weird so I think some time away would be best for both of us." Jason added as he came closer to us.

"How does you helping us give you guys space, if both of you should be asleep." Abram questioned.

"Well I figured staying up more would let me sleep in more." Jason shrugged as he threw in his share of debris onto the pile. Piper and Jason gave off the vibe that there had been dating for a while now. It was rare to ever see them apart from each other. There was hardly any single people in the camp now. The titans had been defeated and if it was true that Gaea was waking, people just thought time was short for everyone and being alone wasn't an option.

"So is it official yet?" Leo asked as he jumped off a rock and landed near Jason. Jason turned away from them and started walking towards the shed to put his equipment up. Leo and Abram both shoot each other a confused look before following him. The shed was located far enough that the light almost didn't reach the spot they were heading to which added that much more of a dramatic feeling. Perfect for the direction their conversation was going.

"It's . . complicated," Jason finally let out. "I feel like I shouldn't make things official just yet, but at the same time I can't imagine being without her. I like her way to much to break her heart, and with my memories still coming back I feel -"

"Like there is someone else from your old camp." Abram interrupted. "Someone you think you might have a past with." Jason shot him a look as if he was saying how did you know that?. "Just guessing." Abram said answering Jason's questioning look throwing his equipment in the shed behind Jason.

"You should probably tell her that bro," Leo muttered as he threw his broom in the shed. "That way she won't think you are cheating on her, or leading her on, or something like that.".

"Hey guys?" Abram called out as he walked away from the others looking at the ground. "That trail from the camp continues here.". He knelt down and traced the side of a giant footprint in the ground before standing back up and turning to the other two. "What do you say we go see what attacked us? Y'know since we are already up."

Jason and Leo looked at each then back towards Abram. "Isn't that against the rules?" Jason asked

"Since when did we follow them in the first place?" Leo grinned.

"Looks like it's the wilderness school all over again." Jason chuckled

"Substitute one." Leo added as he pointed at Abram.

"Welp, let's go. Who wants to lead?" Abram asked rubbing the back of his head trying averting his gaze from them. His face was starting to turn red. He had just realized this would be his first time being around Leo and Jason outside of combat training, or camp games. Even though they were around his age, hearing about their quest just made them more intimidating. Even in the dark he was sure they would see how nervous he was, he just hoped they wouldn't pick up on how inexperienced he was at leading.

"Since you spotted these tracks why don't you lead." Jason answered as he reassuringly patted Abram on his arm.

"Yeah . . .sure," he muttered "C'mon then, before someone sees us."

As if on cue a group of kids walked up behind them and asked what they were doing. Jason and Leo looked at each other as if they were trying to agree on an excuse through random noises that were probably words. "We're on guard duty." Abram lied interrupting Leo and Jason's stammering. "We thought it would be safe if we took the first watch after this attack. In-case whatever it is decides to come back." He may not have been a child of Aphrodite, but he sure sounded like he was using charmspeak. Even Leo and Jason bought the excuse for a second before remembering what they were really doing. The group of kids seemed to have bought it since they stopped questioning them, turned around, and left.

"Wow, that was quick thinking." Jason said.

"Yeah man, how did you come up with that so fast?" Leo asked with a crooked eyebrow. Abram felt himself blush from Leo's actions.

"Used to it I guess. Me and Klari used to sneak out into the woods a lot of times just to get away for awhile. Now c'mon before they come back asking for a shift schedule or something."

Why did I blush at that? Abram thought to himself as he pushed branches out of the way eyes still fixed on the ground following the tracks. Get it together Abram. You need to stay focused out here in the forest. It's too dangerous to get distracted. He probably doesn't- "Whoa!" He yelped being literally pulled out from his thoughts. If it wasn't for Jason pulling him back he would have fallen into a deep ditch, and probably would have broken some bones on the way down. "Thanks." He said as he looked down.

"No problem," Jason answered as he let go of him. "You, okay? Something wrong?

"No, no . . . just stuck in my own head over thinking like always. Abram muttered.

"You do that too?" Leo chimed in making himself visible from behind Jason. Abram quickly read his face and could tell being behind Jason was bothering him. Probably some mixed emotions thrown in there as well. Abram would have asked him if something was bothering him if Jason wasn't here. Abram's guessed it had to be something about Jason. "I thought I was the only one that did that." Leo continued.

"Well, you aren't. I usually spend more time talking in my own head then out loud. I guess just afraid of people's reactions or something."

"No need to be like that with us." Leo said as he wrapped an arm around Jason. "We're all happy thoughts and good feelings here." He grinned.

"Yeah, it would be nice if we knew a little bit more about you." Jason added.

"Well I'm an open book." Abram replied. "All you guys have to do is ask, and why don't you take the lead from here on out Jason. Jason nodded in response and took point leading the group along the trench looking for a way across.

"Well, not to be rude or anything, but who is your big-shot parent? I mean you don't exactly give a hint right away." Leo asked falling in line with Abram behind Jason. Even though they were walking in the dark, the moonlit bounced off of what look like metal wires in Leo's hand. Child of Hephaestus all right. He thought smiling to himself. Can't keep his hands still.

"Apollo is my dad," Abram answered. "Born and raised in Texas though."

"Really!? I'm from Texas too!. Leo chimed in.

"¿No es broma? Err I mean no kidding?" Abram quickly changed his language back to English. He talked in Spanish sometimes when he got excited or startled. Leo's eyes widened as he rush to Abram's side and turned him towards himself.

"Por fin alguien con quien hablar en español!" (Finally, someone to talk to in Spanish!) Leo cried with excitement. "I mean don't get me wrong we don't have to do it all the time, but damn, it makes me feel better that I know someone else that speaks Spanish, and most likely shares my heritage."

"Yeah, nice to know we have some stuff in common already." Abram managed to get out after coming out of the sudden shock Leo gave him.

CRACK!

A loud sound made them both jump as they looked for an explanation to what startled them.

"Didn't mean to ruin your moment guys, but I found a way over." Jason stated as he put a leg on a recently uprooted tree that now laid across the ditch. The base of the tree still had its roots buried in loose dirt.

"More like made a way over." Leo said. "C'mon. He is just jealous because you have more stuff in common with me than him." Leo wrapped an arm around Abram and led him towards the tree quickly shooting Jason a look as if saying Tough Luck, we just click better.

"So, is it true Leo? Do you really have the power over fire? Abram asked him.

Leo replied with a short Laugh "Yeah, watch this!" Leo brought his hand up and opened his fist. A small flame came to life on his finger tips and then started to dance across his palm. Abram knew he was curious and what he should have expected, but he still jumped a bit at the sight of the fire. "You alright?" Leo asked him as he closed his hand making the fire disappear.

"Yeah, ju-just didn't think the rumors were true." Abram replied. He knew he had taken too much time to say something. Leo was giving him a look that read he wasn't buying Abram's excuse.

"What about you? Do you have any powers?"

"Me? No, well I mean not special powers like your fire. All children of Apollo have powers. We get more energy from being in the sun. We all have the power to heal if we sing a hymn to our father in Ancient Greek. We are also great marksmen, but I don't think that would count as a power. I can say I am one of the better ones from Apollo cabin though." Abram said smiling with confidence at his last sentence.

"Getting a little cocky there?" Jason said.

"Nope. I'll prove it once we get back to camp." Abram replied.

"Five drachmas says you can't shoot more than three arrows at a time." Leo said.

"Just three? Fine you're on" Abram replied with a wide grin.

"Right Now." Leo said as he nudged Abram's shoulder.

"Hmm Hmm." Abram replied with a series of little cocky huffs. "Better save on some time and get the money out then." Leo reached into his pocket and pulled out 5 small gold coins. On one side they were imprinted with the likeness of Zeus, on the other they had the Empire State Building on it.

"That sound you made. It seems familiar." Leo said squinting his eyes as he tried to figure out the origin or the sound.

"It's from a show I used to watch as a kid. I think it was called Regular Show."

"The one with the Blue Jay and the Raccoon?!" Leo exclaimed.

"Yeah, how did you know?" Abram asked him.

"I used to watch that show all the time when I was a kid as well." Leo laughed. "That explains why these look familiar." He said as he tugged on Abram's pajamas. Abram shrugged his hand off.

"Name a target." Abram said as he notched four arrows.

"Those four trees over there." Jason and Leo said in unison.

"No problem." Abram replied as he got down on one knee, took aim, and released the bowstring. The arrows whistled as they broke the air.

THUD!

They all hit their marks. The sound of the arrows hitting the trunks at the same time seem to all harmonize, and were in perfect line with each other. "Oh, children of Apollo are good musicians as well." Abram winked at Leo before sticking his hand out. Leo dropped the Drachmas into Abram's hand. His mouth hanging open in amazement. Jason was slightly behind him laughing louder than he should have.

"Hey!" A girl's voice yelled startling all three boys. Wood nymphs melted from the four trees. All four of them had an arrow in their hand. "You shouldn't do that. The trees have feelings you know." The one that spoke continued. She grasped the arrow with both hands and broke it over her knee several times, and threw the pieces at back at Abram. The other three dryads followed her example and threw them at Jason and Leo as well. Jason, Leo, and Abram where pelted with pieces of wood and arrow heads. They quickly ran away from the dryads continuing their hunt for the monster.

The group of boys talked and walked for what seemed like hours. The morning air was starting to get cold and damp. The mossy ground squished under their feet. The sun was starting to rise. Well at least it easier to see things clearly now. Abram thought to himself. The weather and temperature in Camp Half-Blood was controlled, but being November the weather was colder than when Leo, Jason, and Piper arrived.

"Uughhh how long have we been out here!" Leo whined. as he threw his head back and started to drag his feet. The ground below them, damp from morning dew.

"A little over an hour now." Abram said looking at the rising sun.

"And exactly how much longer do we plan on-"

"Shush" Jason interrupted him. "Do you guys hear something?" The three of them stopped their moving and shallowed their breathing to hear the surrounding area better. Abram took the time to finally notice the scenery. They were standing on a shore bank of a quite lake. A mountain toward the south that had what looked like a deep cave in it, but he didn't want to find out exactly what it was and if something lived there this early and so under-armed. Dangerous creatures lived in these woods, and it was a miracle they didn't run into any yet. A winding path came out of the cave and reached all the way to where they were standing. The mouth of the cave had a small waterfall with a stream filling the lake. The area was surrounded with hills, which made it feel like a valley with a lake in the middle. The lake itself was located near a small hill on that happened to be where the stream flowed down through. It made a small waterfall that was the perfect height for diving, bathing under, or just to relax and let the water hit you while the sun set. It was the perfect vacation spot from the main camp. The only problem was that it felt eerily abandon. Like there was no life within miles of this place. No humans, no animals, not even any nymphs. That's it! He thought to himself.

"There's no sound coming from anything. No birds, no bugs, not even the wind is blowing." He looked at Jason's and Leo's face and saw how scared that realization made them. He was sure that he had the same expression on his face.

"The Silence is killing me" Leo finally said. A faint thumping rumbled the earth, and at first Abram just thought it was the sound of his heart pounding from fear. The fact that the others started looking around quickly ruled out that possibility. The trees starting shaking violently enough that with each rumble a shower of leaves fell everywhere you could possibly look.

"I really miss the silence." Leo muttered shakily. The three boys formed a huddle and were back to back . . . to back still trying to pinpoint the location of the threat. A piercing howl echoed throughout the hills and was loud enough to bring them to their knees covering their ears. Abram felt a nauseating pit in his stomach. It was the cry they heard earlier, which meant, it was the same monster that attack the camp a few hours ago and caused all that damage. Now the three of them were about to find out what is was with one weapon each and a long ways away from anyone who could help them. Jason was the first out of the group to get it back together and stand up ready for battle. "Look out!" He yelled as he dodge rolled to the side away from Leo and Abram. Abram's ears were still ringing from the howl and he couldn't make out what he said.

"Yeah, I'm over here. You said call out right?" He questioned as he stood. He was still rubbing his right ear with his right hand. Leo had jumped out of the way to their left side and slide on the ground a bit.

"ABRAM!" Leo cried out.

"Huh?" Abram managed to say as he looked forward. A ball of flames was flying towards him at an incredible speed like it had been shot out of a cannon. The sight of the flames brought back glimpses of a painful past that he tried to forget about. He couldn't bring his body to move in time to get away. He stood there frozen like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming car. He managed to bring his right arm in front of him as if he were holding an invisible shield just before the flames got to him. What are you doing? You are ssssooooo dead!" He thought to himself. Great, my final thoughts are of me making fun of myself. He clenched his eyes shut and was prepared to feel his skin burning away before waking up somewhere in the underworld. After what seemed like an eternity he finally opened his eyes. Instead of feeling extreme heat, he just felt his energy draining away and his body growing tired fast.

"Abram!" He heard Leo call out. "Holy shit dude, how are you doing that!".

"Doing what?" Abram grunted slightly turning his head to where he heard Leo's voice coming from. He found it difficult to get words out of his mouth. Why do I feel like this? After questioning himself, he quickly, well as fast as his body would let him, turned to the direction he remembered where the flames was coming from. In front of him floating mere inches away from his skin was a shield made of pure light. It was just large enough to block the fire from hitting him. His body had used all of his energy and his arm dropped to his side. The light shield had disappeared the moment his arm started to lower itself. Abram didn't even have enough strength to stand up and collapsed to the ground kneeling and gasping for air. Then he heard it: a scraping noise, like something large dragging its belly through the leaves. The rumble of the monster's footsteps finally stopped, but Abram knew it could have only meant danger for them. He gathered enough strength to look up and see what they were dealing with.

It stood towering over the height of all three boys combine. It looked like a dragon straight from the books Abram used to read when he was younger but with six too many heads. Each head was topped with a reptilian head. It was hissing, its front half writhing in all different directions. Its skin was leathery. Each head was diamond-shaped, like a rattlesnake's but the mouths were lined with jagged rows of shark-like teeth. Not far in front of them Abram saw Jason standing between him and the beast with his Gladius in his hand. Abram started to mutter something but couldn't find the strength to talk loud enough for Jason to hear.

"Whoa dude, don't try to exert yourself, we need you alive still." Leo said as he slid to Abram's side.

"L . . . Leo" He whispered.

"Yeah, man what is it?" Leo asked as he got closer to hear Abram better.

"Jason . . . don't . . .blood . . . on . . ." He managed to get out pointing at the monster before everything started to zoom out as if he started to fall into a pit of blackness.

"Got it," Leo replied. "JASON! don't let that thing's blood-!". Was the last thing that Abram heard before darkness claimed him.

Well, this is my first fanfiction that I have ever put out there, so please reviews are greatly GREATLY appreciated! Let me know if there is something I can do to improve this or if you have any questions. I know this didn't really have any romance in it but trust me it will come later in a few chapters once they start their quest/mission.