Finally got myself to write this chapter, and I really enjoyed coming back to this story. I'll try to keep updating on here, depending on the kind of uni work I have. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the last chapter (I personally thought it was pretty good). I dropped some foreshadowing and easter eggs in there, let's see if someone can spot them all. I have some pretty cool ideas for the rest of the story, I hope that I can commit to writing them over the next few weeks. Also, I've decided to start responding to reviews, so whatever you guys write, I'll address it directly. Cheers, enjoy!

Percy

The train had started to slow as the sun came up, its pace decreasing exponentially as they got closer to the station. There had to have been some magic involved, because there was no way they could have gotten up to Portland so fast on a regular train. Bia worried Percy, and not only because she seemed unhinged. Something was off about her, something that Percy didn't quite understand yet. He wondered if he should alert the gods of the deal he had made with her, or just go through with it and swallow his suspicions.

Leila had ended up snuggled up next to him, still fast asleep with Jason laying unconscious a metre or so away. Percy had managed to get some sleep, but he didn't need much anyway. Olympian gods could not sleep at all for months on end if they needed to; they just slept because they liked how they then felt in the morning. Percy, although a far cry from a god, was a similar case: usually he would be completely rested with three hours of sleep or less, and could stay awake for two or three days without feeling any real fatigue. This was a useful attribute to have when you lived in the wilderness, constantly hunting and tracking monsters, but not in a normal setting. He looked down at the daughter of Ceres, who had her face buried in his side and her knees tucked into her chest. Percy didn't want to wake her, but they had to get going.

'Leila', Percy said softly as he shook her awake. 'We're here.'

She slowly opened her eyes, muttering unintelligibly and yawing. She seemed content to stay where she was, but quickly realised she had been using Percy as a pillow and moved away, her face flushed. Percy suppressed a smile and shook Jason awake.

'Wakey, wakey, your majesty. We need to get ready.'

The train rolled into the station, and the trio got to their feet. 'Right', Leila started, trying to repress a yawn. 'According to the information they gave us, the hiding place for the weapons was the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, which shouldn't be too far from here. I say we start there. Our priority is finding the weapons, and they'll probably be a good indicator of what happened to the first quest.'

Jason and Percy both nodded. It seemed the most likely place to start looking. Percy could hear a couple of station workers outside. He could sense they were half asleep, angry and irritated. They were far from a physical threat, but the trio preferred to keep a low profile just in case whatever had made the first quest disappear was still lurking around. They would have to move fast if they wanted to slip past them.

Walking along the river, Percy thought about his dream on the train. His godly attributes came with disadvantages, and a notable one was dreams. Like demigods, he often saw visions in his dreams, but his were much more frequent and much more realistic. These usually showed him current events, and often ones related to him. Kind of like a godly newsreel. Only a very small number of nights did he actually see something that meant nothing, and by the grace of the gods, Percy hoped this one was one of them. He had seen Zeus in the throne room at Olympus, yelling and angry. A pissed off god of thunder was usually no strange occurrence, but something had seemed more serious about this one. No other god was stepping in to calm him, no words of reason were being offered. The most notable thing, however, was nowhere to be seen. The master bolt was gone. Percy knew Zeus kept it on him at all times, and used to direct his anger at different ornaments in the throne room almost every meeting. Thinking optimistically, maybe the king of the gods had just preferred to not brandish his symbol of power, but that seemed odd to Percy. If it was gone, then there would be a problem, and a serious one at that. Percy would have a busy couple of months.

Leila's voice snapped him to attention. 'I think that's it?'

The museum building was big, but honestly rather unimpressive. Granted, if Percy had seen it right after living with Lupa, he would have been speechless, but he'd grown accustomed to large buildings.

They stopped about a hundred metres from the entrance, huddling up close to each other. 'How do we get in?' asked Jason.

Leila looked over her shoulder at the glass doors. 'We could just buy a ticket. I mean, there's no reason for the guards to think we're anything other than regular people.'

Percy frowned. 'Groups of kids don't normally go into museums alone. Besides, if whatever got your group of campers is still around-'

'We don't know there is something', Jason interrupted. 'Maybe they just got sidetracked somewhere else.'

Leila crossed her arms. 'I find that hard to believe, Jason. They were a properly armed and trained group of legionnaires loyal to Rome. They would have found this place no problem, and carrying out their mission would have been priority number one. Unfortunately, I think Percy's right. Something or someone interrupted them.'

Jason looked back at Percy. 'So what does that mean?'

Percy glanced at the museum, then back at them. 'It means we sneak in. We don't want anybody to know we're here, not until we find the weapons and learn what happened to your group of campers.'

Jason bowed his head. 'Ok then, stealth mode it is. Do you guys have a plan for that?'

'Already on it.'

Percy had his eyes locked on a rusty metal door on the side of the building, relatively hidden from the busy main entrance. He guessed it was used by museum staff for easier access to the building. They moved towards it, doing their best not to look too suspicious. Suspicion had a very particular smell about it, and when they got to the door Percy could smell none of it on the main entrance guards. They hadn't seen them. A thick padlock held the door closed, which Percy snapped with ease. Luckily for them, the rusty hinges didn't make too much noise as they swung open, and the trio snuck inside.

Leila

They searched the whole building, slipping past security with Percy's help. She didn't really know how he did it, but they just seemed to wander off when he stared at them, almost like they heard something and turned around to check. She guessed it had something to do with his emotion powers. He'd mentioned how they worked a couple of times, but she didn't really understand it. Having searched the top and ground floors, Percy, Jason and Leila started making their way to the basement. It had seemed to her the most obvious place to hide a cache of weapons, but Jason had insisted they search the whole building. They used the service stairs, with Percy leading the way and Leila bringing up the rear. She truly didn't know what had happened to the group of legionaries that had been sent here. It had been a routine mission, nothing that would ever mean any sort of danger. Their leader, Trey Mitchell, was a son of Mercury, and had spent almost seven years in the legion. He was loyal to a fault and a very competent soldier, always admired by everybody at Camp Jupiter. If something had managed to hurt them, Leila wasn't sure they were ready to face it.

She didn't say a word though, just followed Jason down the metal staircase, trying to step as lightly as she could. They got to the basement door after a couple of flights, and Percy carefully pushed it open. He probably knew there wasn't anybody on the other side, Leila realised, he just wanted to make as little noise as possible. As soon as he pushed it open, he stopped, his head snapping up in alarm.

'Something stinks down here. It's scent has been masked somehow, but I can definitely feel it.'

Percy's voice was just above a whisper, but it sent shivers right down Leila's spine. She felt the hair on her arms stand up, and her grip tightened around the ring on her finger. She could see Jason have a similar reaction, reaching into his pocket and dropping into a fighting stance. Moving slowly and deliberately, they followed Percy into the basement.

It was made up of a network of old tunnels, with all sorts of pipes running overhead. Each one was pretty narrow, and they were forced to walk in single file, with Percy leading the group. Suddenly, Percy stopped again, moving closer to one of the thick pipes snaking up the dusty wall. He reached behind it, and a couple of seconds later pulled out something that looked like a ball of fabric. Leila moved a little closer to examine it, and was filled with dread. It was a purple Camp Jupiter t-shirt, only the strands of fabric were barely hanging on. Someone, or something had almost ripped it apart. Percy didn't say a word, just looked at Jason and Leila. She expected him to show some kind of emotion, but his gaze was icy cold. Percy was completely in control, and absolutely ready and willing to kill whatever had done this to one of their legionaries. Leila liked Percy because he was a sweet, kind-hearted soul, but moments like this reminded her of how scary he could look when he really wanted to.

Following Percy again, they kept moving, Leila now painfully aware of the sound of her footsteps as they echoed down the corridor. Had they been this loud before? She felt her heart start beating faster, and the pumping sound in her ears threatened to block out everything else. Up ahead, the corridor opened up to the right, and Percy signalled them to stick to the right wall. Leila and Jason obeyed wordlessly, shuffling up alongside him and popping their heads around the corner. The corridor led to a large open area, maybe the size of the Senate building back in New Rome. It was filled with giants, maybe four metres tall each, with dark motted skin and bulging muscles. Leila could see three trucks on the other side of the room, lined up with a dark tunnel opening on the far wall. They seemed in a good mood, lumbering around grunting happily as they loaded the trucks with wooden crates.

'Those have to be the weapons', Leila thought. 'We have to come up with some sort of a plan-'

Her train of thought stopped in its tracks. Standing on top of one of the crates shouting orders was a tall, well-built man. Leila's mind flashed back, remembering that same man shouting in a similar fashion, only this time he'd been organising legionnaires before her first war games. The giants obeyed his instructions, but none of them seemed too happy about it. Leila heard Jason let out a little gasp; he must have seen him too. He seemed just about ready to charge out, but before they could do anything, Percy pulled them both back behind the wall, clamping a hand over Jason's mouth.

'Not yet', he whispered. 'We have to figure out a plan first.'

Jason snatched Percy's hand away. 'Are you kidding me! Mitchell betrayed us, that lying piece of-'

'Hey!' Leila interrupted in a low tone. 'Language!'

Jason huffed. 'Keep your voices down', said Percy quietly. 'Giants may be slow and dumb, but they're certainly not deaf.'

Leila looked at both of them. She was fairly sure, with Percy's help, they could take them, but she still didn't want anything to go wrong. 'Like Percy said, we need a plan.'

Percy nodded. 'Right. I reckon there's around fifteen of them in there, so we need to be quick and efficient. I'll go in first, take out as many as I can. You two follow me, but stick together. Engage them fast, but try not to avoid a situation where you face more than one of them at a time. Once the giants are cleared up, we take down the son of Mercury and you bring him back to camp. Any questions?'

Both Jason and Leila shook their heads. Jason took out his gold coin, and a second later his golden gladius appeared in his hand. Leila stuck her hand out, and her ring morphed into her spear, the weight familiar in her hands. Percy stepped back and nodded at them. Both demigods watched as he grew in size, fur growing from his face as it elongated into a snout. She'd seen this countless times, but she was as afraid and mesmerised every time she did. In the dark tunnel, Percy's wolf form seemed even more intimidating. Sure, he looked big and imposing, but Leila had seen bigger beings than him. What really seemed to change was Leila's assurance that, even though Percy was very powerful, he would never hurt her. Even in his human form, he had an certain volatile air to him, which kept everybody around him on their toes. When he transformed, that feeling increased tenfold, with none of the restraint and kindness typical of the human. Leila knew he would never do anything to her, but fear ran up and down her body nonetheless. She could scarcely imagine what it felt like being one of his victims.

She closed her eyes and steeled herself. She looked into his eyes, blue and red, shining intently into her own. The feeling of fear disappeared, and Leila felt as ready as she ever had been. Jason drew up on her right, his sword ready and his face full of determination. Percy gave them both a small grunt, and they ran out to meet the giants.

The demigods followed Percy's instruction, charging out shoulder by shoulder being the son of Lupa. He smashed into the giants, instantly vaporising the first two. The monsters were weary and tired, and in no way ready to defend themselves. Jason and her quickly double-teamed a straggler, with Jason making a deep cut in one of his ankles, bringing the giant down to his knees. Leila quickly thrust her spear through the monster's neck, a swift and brutal killing stroke. Trey screamed like crazy, trying to organise the giants in to some form of ranks, but they didn't seem to care. The one closest to him, a massive bald male, swatted him into the back wall with an almost lazy swipe of his hand, and then charged at Percy's massive form, who was systematically turning his brothers into dissolving lumps of monster flesh. Needless to say, he didn't last long.

Jason and Leila stayed together and engaged a couple more giants, who looked unsure if they should try and help or take this chance to escape while they could. They worked as an efficient team, moving from one target to the next. At one point, Leila managed to summon some of her nature powers, and tangled a giant as he was about to charge at them, giving the pair enough time to finish him off. Her powers were a tricky thing, one which she hadn't come around to figuring out just yet. They sometimes seemed to work effortlessly, and she could bend all type of plants to her will. She could make them grow and move, much like the nature magic from the fauns back at Camp Jupiter. Other times they seemed to not work at all.

The pair of demigods looked around, their backs to one another. Leila controlled her breathing and clutched her spare tightly, but they seemed to have finished them off. Percy had backed Trey Mitchell against one of the trucks, and the treasonous son of Mercury looked downright terrified. He was bleeding from the side of his head, probably from the hit he'd taken from the giant, his purple camp shirt now stained with his own blood. Jason and Leila ran to Percy's side, levelling their weapons at the former legionnaire.

'What happened to the rest of the group?' growled Jason. 'What did you do to them?'

Trey locked eyes with Jason. 'I didn't do anything. They chose their own fate, which is more than I could say for the majority your wretched camp. I let them choose their own path.' Trey smiled and looked at both the demigods, who looked more disgusted by the second. 'Shame the one they chose interfered with their wellbeing.'

Leila shoved the point of her spear against Trey's throat, hard enough to draw a trickle of blood, but not enough to actually cause any damage. 'Be very careful with what to say next.' Leila chose her words deliberately. 'I want you to tell us what happened.'

Even with her spearpoint at his throat, Trey started to sneer at her, but a deathly growl from Percy wiped the expression clean. He took a step forward, his gleaming fangs a couple of feet from the son of Mercury's face.

'Talk.'

After a moment, Trey managed to tear his eyes off Percy's, and seemed to recover some of his earlier nonchalant demeanour. 'The camp, the Senate, New Rome, the gods. Its all a joke, Leila. They don't care about us. Think, what have the Olympians ever done anything for us? The ones that are unlucky enough to make it to camp get to see how little we actually mean to our godly parents.'

Jason pointed his gladius at the downed legionnaire. 'The rest of the group. What did you do to them?'

'I already told you. I gave them a choice. I told them about the lies of the gods, I showed them how little they fucking care! Leila, they wouldn't listen to me. They chose what path they wanted to be on, and, well, the giants took care of the rest.'

Leila's grip on her spear tightened till her knuckles went white. She felt her breathing speed up, and a red hot anger swelled up inside her. As soon os it came up, she forced it down and glared at Trey. 'You're under arrest, you scumbag. The legion will decide what to do with you.'

She was about to move in to restrain him when Percy got closer to him. 'Where were the weapons going?'

Trey pressed the back of his head hard against the door of the truck, his eyes suddenly flooded with terror.

'W-what?'

'You heard me.' Percy spoke in a low, steady voice. 'The weapons were being loaded into the trucks. Where were they going?'

Trey froze for a moment, and Percy opened his mouth slightly. 'North! There's a group of monsters up north, they were going to get them next week.'

'How did you know? I've hunted groups of monsters all my life, I've never seen any working with demigods.' Percy paused for a second, his nose now inches from Trey's face. Leila had never seen anyone look so scared. His face was white as paper, and it seemed like he was trying to stop himself from trembling to not get any closer to Percy. Even though she hated him, Leila did her best not to wince at the sight.

'There's something more behind this, isn't there?'

Trey shook his head frantically, but Percy didn't relent. 'Tell me. Who came to you? Who told to do this? Who is pulling the strings?'

Trey closed his eyes, shuddering slightly. 'A-a voice visits me in my dreams', he started slowly. 'We talk. He opened my mind to new possibilities. He-'

Percy snarled at him, and Leila swore she could feel her skull vibrating from the sheer force behind it. 'If this was my pack, I would have you starved, beaten and hunted down like a wild animal. Anyone who betrays his brothers, who kills his own, isn't worthy of sympathy or mercy.'

Leila took a step back, slightly shocked at the sudden anger emanating from her friend. She trusted he was in control of himself, but if he decided to take justice into his own hands, there would be little her or Jason could do. Percy bared his teeth at Trey, who had clamped his eyes shut, his hand balled up into tight fists, pressed hard against his sides. Suddenly, Percy stepped back, his figure getting shorter and slimmer. A moment later, regular Percy stood in front of them. Trey's jaw dropped, and he started at what just moments before had been a tank-sized wolf.

'You're lucky this isn't my pack, Roman. Jason, Leila, you and the weapons will go back to Camp Jupiter. There, you'll face the legion. Better pray to the gods they show you the same mercy as have.'

The truck bumped along a narrow road, and Leila was lost deeply in thought. The tunnel leading out of the basement, as it turned out, was used to supply the museum, and so it led straight out. They'd moved all of the weapons to one truck, including a bound and gagged Trey Mitchell, and with the help of Percy, driven past the guards without many eyebrows being raised. Most of the space in the other trucks had been for the giants, which Leila assumed would ride with their cargo to protect it. Luckily, the actual weapons all fit comfortably in just one of the trucks. This meant they found themselves, a fifteen year-old, a thirteen year-old and a twelve year-old, driving out of Portland in a truck full of Imperial Gold weapons. Leila sat by the window and stared at the trees whipping by. They were at the edge of the city, and she knew they had a long drive ahead of them. Percy was at the wheel for now, but both Jason and her could take over if he got tired. One of the many essential demigod skills, up there with fighting and planning, was driving.

Leila couldn't get what Trey had said out of her head. What was the thing in his dream? The easy thing would have been just to write him off as a madman, but her gut instinct told her otherwise. There was something else at play here, something dark and scheming. Whatever it was, it clearly didn't like the gods, and held a smilier regard to their children. It also had to be extremely powerful, which is what didn't make sense to her.

'If this thing was powerful enough to visit dreams, why not take the weapons itself?'

They trudged along for another hour, and not much was said. Jason was sitting in between them and fell asleep on Leila's shoulder, but she didn't really mind. She took a look at Percy, who had his eyes focused on the road and a hand on the wheel. He noticed her, and turned to flash her a quick smile.

'We're ok now. You go ahead and get some sleep, I'll wake you guys up later.'

She wanted to mumble a reply, but Percy's words seemed to work some kind of magic over her. Her eyelids suddenly felt heavy and droopy, and she let her head rest against the window.

Jason

In his dream, Jason was walking up a hill. It was grassy and steep, and a thick fog made it hard to see ahead. He squinted hard and kept climbing. He knew he would find something up there, but he just didn't know what it was. He started going faster and faster, trying frantically to get to the top. Finally, the ground started to even out, and he ran forward, his senses on high alert for anything that might come after him. The fog had started to thin, and Jason could see some scattered bushes, but nothing seemed out of place. Suddenly, he spotted the figure of a man in the distance. Running towards it, he could see he was on his knees, his arms raised up in the air.

He seemed to be dressed in nothing but a couple of small rags. As Jason got closer, he realised the man was gigantic, almost taller than him while on his knees. His arms bulged with muscle, and he looked to be straining against something. Jason must have been ten meters away from him, and he slowed down. His eyes were fixed on a spot right above the man's broad shoulders. The air seemed more concentrated in that spot. Jason strained his eyes, and he could see it spun in a very small radius, almost like a miniature tornado on the man's back. Jason followed it up, and he saw it opened up as it rose. It almost looked like an upside down cone, expanding as far as Jason could see. As he tried to make sense of what he was seeing, Jason's eyes were drawn to something he hadn't seen before. A couple of metres away from the kneeling man, a slab of black stone had appeared on the grass. It was polished and shiny, not something you would find in a normal nature setting. Jason wondered how he could have missed it. It was almost like it had grown out of the ground.

The man's head snapped up, taking Jason by surprise. His eyes were solid gold, dull and lifeless. Jason didn't see his lips move, but he heard a voice in his head.

'So, the fog is lifted. It begins. Try as you may, you cannot stop what is to come.'

The voice sounded dry and scathing, like a knife being dragged over a rock. The winds around the hilltop began to pick up, and dark clouds started gathering over Jason's head.

'I rise, demigod. I will take back what was mine, and destroy the flawed system the usurpers have forced on this world. And you can do nothing.'

The wind started howling, and Jason felt the ground start to shake. Thunder boomed overhead, but Jason felt no lightning. He felt helpless. The shaking started to get worse, and Jason did his best to not get thrown off his feet. He looked at the kneeling man again, and despite the pain he looked to be in, his lips drew into a thin smile. Just then, the ground cracked open underneath Jason's feet, and he fell into the darkness below.

That's the end of chapter 14, finally! Sorry it took so long, I have a lot of stuff going on, and not much time to dedicate to this story (unfortunately). I tried to make this chapter longer, and I personally think it came out pretty awesome. Lots of easter eggs and secret references in this one, please let me know if you guys can spot them. I loved writing this one, the main story is finally starting to unfold!