Hello, I am back.

30TH CHAPTER YAY!

Disclaimer: Too lazy to admit it.

Let's get this party started! (So many of your prayers have been answered in this chapter.)

Piper

"So?" asked Leo, uncaring.

Piper resisted the urge to slap him.

"So? SO!? This is Kronos, the Titan who everyone in camp is talking about because Percy-Freaking-JACKSON-KILLED HIM!"

"Oh, yeah, in the Second Titan war. I remember now," said Leo, putting his book aside, unfazed by Piper's frustration. "He possessed some Hermes kid. Then the Hermes kid stabbed himself." He shook his head sadly. "Not a nice way to go."

"Don't you realize what this means?" shrieked Piper, grabbing some pencil she found (there were surprisingly a lot of them in the cabin) and circling the title in her book. "This horrible bad guy has access to the Lord of Time, who is currently serving his time in Tartarus!"

Leo stopped to stare at her without getting it. "And I'm guessing that this is bad…?"

Piper was about to slam her fist down on her book in frustration, and probably afterwards on Leo's face, but then someone asked from behind them, "What are you doing here?"

Piper turned, slowly. There stood a boy and a girl a few years older than she and Leo at the doorway. Piper recognized them as the camp's personal heroes, Percy Jackson and his sidekick/girlfriend Annabeth Something.

"What do you think, O Wise One?" Percy asked Annabeth. He gestured all the books on the floor, piled around Leo and Piper.

Annabeth frowned. "Alright," she decided, turning to Leo and Piper. "But next time, just ask if you need the cabin's books. I thought you two were the Stoll brothers trying to scheme another spider prank." She shuddered. "Spiders," she muttered quietly to herself.

"Well, we're so sorry," Piper said, getting to her feet. "Now that you're here we should probably leave—"

"Probably," Percy added.

"—But nonsense," Annabeth butted in. "You were here for something. Let me see if I can help."

Percy groaned, falling forward on one of the beds. "Please spare me the agony of learning," his voice muffled.

"Ah, actually, I don't think we need that much help," Piper said slowly and deliberately. She had heard the stories. Mentioning Kronos in front of these guys probably wouldn't be such a good idea. "Thanks anyway, though."

Annabeth blinked. "Uh, sure," she said.

Piper realized that she had just used charmspeak unintentionally. She winced, waiting for Annabeth to realize this. But she didn't, and instead began to pick up all the books strewn on the floor. Leo stood up.

"Yeah, you can do that," he said, gesturing the books.

Piper sighed and got down on her knees, helping Annabeth put everything away while the guys stood around doing nothing.

"So, you're Percy Jackson," Leo said to Percy.

"Yeah," came his muffled reply from inside the bed.

"That's… that's cool," said Leo.

"Leo, we have to go now," Piper said, standing up once again. "Thanks again, guys," she called back to Annabeth and Percy, only speaking to Annabeth as Percy hadn't done anything.

Once they were outside and the door had closed behind them, Leo gave in to his ridiculous superhero pose again. "To the forges!" he announced loudly. He jumped over the porch railing and landed a few feet down with an awkward combat roll. Piper followed him.

"You could break open your skull open trying that," she informed him.

"Not if your skull is as tough as mine," Leo said, tapping it. "Tough as rock. 'Cause rock is tough. Unless it's melted."

Piper rolled her eyes and was about to say more when the ground beneath their feet sank, taking them with it up to their ankles.

"Ew," said Piper, looking down in disgust. "Mud."

She and Leo tried to step out of the mess, but the mud solidified around their feet, trapping them where they stood.

"Uh... Does this usually happen?" said Leo worriedly, tugging at his legs. "I mean, to demigods and stuff?"

Piper tried to yank herself out of the ground without avail. "Unless you somehow angered the god of dirt," she replied, tugging. "Which I don't think exists."

…Ah… So young and clueless… Innocence is truly a wonderful thing…

Piper froze. That voice. Where was it coming from? She looked around and saw Leo, frozen beside her. He obviously recognized this person.

…I will watch your failed attempts with much pleasure, my young heroes… It was soft and sleepy, but hard and cruel at the same time, as if though Hitler's female counterpart was having a nice dream about placing a bomb on all of the Americas (both of them). Piper had a feeling that asking for this person to reveal herself would be no use. Instead, she struggled even further to free herself of her imprisonment.

…But your attempts will be failed… As you see, I still sleep, but the entire world beckons me home… The entire Earth, in fact…

Earth… thought Piper. It was obvious Leo was thinking the same thing, as they shared worried glances.

"Who are you?" Leo demanded defiantly. Piper guessed he would have stepped forward threateningly if he could without tripping and falling onto his face pathetically.

…Ah… young Leo… I remember you… Your mother was a charming woman…

Suddenly, Leo faltered as if stuck. He stood back, breathing heavily for a few seconds as if holding himself back from bursting into flames and killing everything. "Leo!" Piper yelled. "Don't listen to her!"

…And Piper, dear, sweet Piper… Your time will come soon enough… don't you worry…

Piper paled. Her time would come? What?

…I would tell you to stop your failing attempts, but it is all just too much fun to watch… I actually hope you succeed… many more reasons to kill you both…

Leo tried to break free again—as did Piper—but they were simply swallowed deeper to her knees, then thighs. Piper cried out in surprised, and Leo swore loudly.

…But do not worry; I shall not fail... Not this time, my heroes...

And with a horrible cold and soft laugh, the voice was gone.

They didn't speak to each other for a second. Finally, Piper asked Leo, "Are you okay?"

"I'm… I'm fine," he lied, taking deep breaths to calm himself. He placed one hand to the ground and his hand burned red, melting the ground into mud. It was messy, but effective. They were both free and sitting in a pile of sludge in less than five minutes.

"Who was that lady?" asked Piper, suddenly feeling much colder than before, hugging her knees close to her.

"Probably a ninja turtle," Leo admitted. "Now c'mon. We've gotta get back to the forges."

"You're right," said Piper, ignoring the ninja turtle comment. They started to race back when they realized they were still covered in mud.

"After a shower?" asked Piper.

"Sure," replied Leo, and they headed off to their own cabins.

-o-O-o-

By the time Piper had gotten all cleaned up again, her cabin had returned from the campfire. Just in time, too, because Drew looked ready to throw her out of the washroom at any second. Piper silently threw her drying pants in the dirty-clothes bin and headed out.

Leo, a few other Hephaestus campers, and a gang of girls from a minor goddess's cabin were at the forges, but Leo was the only one working alone. She joined him.

"I did a bit of research, and I learned this woman's name," said Leo. "This is just a hunch, but when she said the whole Earth beckons me, I realized that all the signs pointed to Gaea, the earth goddess. But could she actually be called a goddess, anyway? Just because she's technically older than the Titans and—"

"I was actually thinking about what she said, Leo," said Piper. "She kept repeating that we would fail no matter what. Should we just stop and warn the camp, or—"

"No," said Leo firmly. "Look at it this way; just because you're the worst player on your soccer team doesn't mean you shouldn't try. Or an even better metaphor; when the earth itself personally tells you that it wants to kill you and to just let it happen, will you just stand by looking pretty and do nothing, or at least try to prevent Mother Nature from turning the world into a burning inferno?"

Piper sighed. He had a point. "All right, what next?" she asked, running a hand through her hair.

"This is all the info we have so far; there was a war against Gaea, and it was so bad Hera had to switch two people from the camps for a reason we don't exactly know yet. Those two people went on adventures that had to do with prophecies, and in the end they defeated Gaea. But Gaea asked her son Kronos for help, and sent someone or something back in time to change Hera's mind. That never happened, and so the prophecies never existed, thus creating this one," explained Leo.

"Oh, gods, we are so good!" Piper squealed even though Leo had done all the summarizing, high-fiving him. "And it's only the first day!"

"So now we can concentrate on other things, such as this machine," said Leo. "Apparently, I have to create something that will help you convince all the Romans not to attack; the effect of the switch from happening. Or create a time machine to stop Gaea in the first place."

"We could use a giant megaphone," suggested Piper.

"I like the time travelling idea."

"But wouldn't that create a paradox?" Piper asked.

"You know, if a paradox were to ever occur the universe would explode," said Leo.

"You actually believe that?" asked Piper.

"Hey, if Greek gods are real, why can't paradoxes and dancing monkeys and juggling hippopotamus be?"

Piper face-palmed.

"But I doubt we'll ever get our hands on one of those anyway," said Leo. He yawned. "Could we work on this tomorrow? Being swallowed by the earth itself really takes it out of a man."

"Sure," said Piper. "Tomorrow."

Leo grabbed the two sheets and stapled them together, folding them into his pocket. He dropped the pencil on the worktable, and after a quick and sleepy goodnight to Piper, he trudged off to his cabin, Piper going her own way.

Christine, who had been eavesdropping on the entire thing from her table of friends nearby, grinned.

And so it begins, she thought.

This chapter is longer and FULL of action, I hope.

First thing; Kronos! AAH!
Second thing; Gaea! AAH!
Third thing; Romans! AAH!
Fourth thing; ANNABETHANDPERCYOHMIGODSPERCABETH!

Yes, they didn't really do anything now, but they needed to be mentioned because I have decided to include them in the story. Just later on.

*you guys start fan-girling/guying because half of the reviewers at some point wanted Percabeth to show up*

So review and stuff. Make sure to check out my other stories! I have nine of them now, most of them oneshots... Actually, I think I only have three stories that aren't oneshots or threeshots... Hmm...

And don't forget! I'm still taking those requests!