As the manticore flew up into the air, I was astonished. I was strong for my age, that was for sure, but I shouldn't have been able to launch the monster into the air and through several snow-covered trees. Well, that was new. I looked at my arm and flexed it. I felt pumped up, like I could bench 10 times my regular personal record.

What could that mean? Did I develop super strength? That's really weird. The back of my neck tingled, and a shiver went down my spine. Suddenly my body started glowing red and orange, like my blood itself was swapped with lava. Then the pain hit. It started in my head, before my whole body started feeling like it was being stabbed with 3-inch poison-laced red-hot needles. I couldn't do anything but scream. The pain, the excruciating torture became so unbearable that everything just went dark.

Bianca P.O.V.

I watched as Percy launched Dr. Thorn into the air and then stared at his hand. How the hell did he do that? Then he started glowing and screaming. It was a gut-wrenching scream of pain that drew the eyes of everyone in the clearing. I watched as the glowing started getting brighter and brighter, and I could no longer see him. I closed my eyes and turned my head. Then light suddenly disappeared, and so did Percy. I looked around, but he was nowhere to be found. All that remained of him was two steaming imprints where he had been standing.

I ran to the spot. No, no, no, no. "Percy?" I whispered, afraid that he had just spontaneously combusted.

A glimpse of silver caught my eye, but I ignored it. My friend had just disappeared. The tears streaming down my cheeks were almost enough to fill a river. The only nice person in the school to me and Nico. How could I let this happen. I turned towards where the monster had landed and stomped over.

The Huntress' of Artemis had been tracking the wretched Manticore through the north of Maine and he had slowed his pace enough they caught up with him. What they didn't expect to see was a little girl beating on his broken and bleeding body that should have faded into golden dust a while ago. She was chanting "What did you do?" repeatedly with every strike and all he could do was whimper. They decided to put him out of his misery and shot an arrow through his brain.

The girl whirled around. "Why?! I was interrogating him for information! You idiots!" Every nocked an arrow before a small auburn-haired girl walked forward. "You had already ruined his vocal cord child, he couldn't speak even if he wanted to." The black-haired girl slumped forward and a boy that looked so much like her it was obvious they were sibling ran forward and hugged her. They looked at the surroundings and saw the steaming footprints in the snow, and the half-bloods from that horrible camp that looked worse for wear.

The lead girl, auburn haired, pointed at Thalia. "You, half-sister, what happened here?"

Thalia walked forward and gave a slight bow of her head. "Artemis, long time no see."

A black-haired girl with a regal looking face and small tiara strode forward. "That's Lady Artemis to thou, regardless of thou birthright.

Thalia scowled at the girl. "Zoe Nightshade. What a displeasure to meet you, ye ole carcass." Zoe brought up her bow with an arrow notched and ready to fly, as Thalia's spear and shield came out, buzzing with excitement of a fight.

"Calm down you two, I need not your squabble right now. Explain to me what's going on here Thalia."

Thalia glared at Zoe for a little longer before putting her spear away, keeping her shield out just in case. "Well, it all started when…"

Percy P.O.V.

Damn, it was dark in here. Oh, my eyes are closed. Opening my eyes, I prepared myself to see… a dark room. I wasn't handcuffed or anything, which ruled out several kidnapping and kinky scenarios from my brain. But what was I doing here? The last thing I remember was the- oh shit what happened to Bi and Nico?!

Deciding to explore my cell or whatever it was, I came across a door that led to the outside. I opened it, flooding my eyes with the brightest lights I'd ever seen. After letting my eyes adjust, I looked around. I was in a palace, or mansion, or whatever. The placing was huge. Like when I say huge, I don't mean like 4-million-dollar house huge, I mean the size of three city blocks huge. Everything was bright and golden.

I wandered my way down the hall, looking at the huge paintings depicting some guy with golden hair fighting incredible beasts and monsters I'd never seen. He always held a shining sword, and his eyes were made of red fire. The paintings seemed to tell a story, a rise to power and glory. Then, at the end, were two paintings that caught my eye. The second to last depicted the man, but less glorious, almost dull. He was sitting upon a throne, but he didn't look happy. He looked angry.

The last painting was… scary. It was me, being knighted by the man. If it wasn't me, it was someone who very much looked like me. I finally noticed the big double doors at the end of the hall. Well, might as well see what's in store for me.

Behind the door was a massive throne room, with just two occupied thrones. The 1st throne was 20 feet tall and was made of emeralds, but glowed with yellowish energy that reminded me of the sun. The second throne was made of sea glass.

Sitting in these thrones were two giants. The man in the paintings sat upon the throne of emeralds and the lady, who might be his wife, sat upon the glass one. They were beautiful beings, holding no human flaw, and I kind of got the feeling that they might not be. Maybe it was the fact that they were 20 feet tall.

I approached the thrones. "So uh, you kidnapped me to show me your house?" I asked, deciding to skip over the "hey, how are you" small talk.

The man grinned. "Straight to the point are we, my dear Perseus?"

"Percy, my friends call me Percy."

"That would mean we are friends?"

I opened my mouth to retort but thought of nothing. Nobody had ever said that. Well, I definitely wanted them on my side. I got a feeling I could win a war with these two leading me.

"Well, I guess we could start there. Who are you and why did you bring me here, and what happened to my friends?"

The man held up his hand. "One at a time please. To start, I've had many names, but the one you might know me by would be Helios. Your friends are fine, with that insufferable moon goddess. As to why you are here, I will have to show you that."

Helios? The sun god dude? Moon goddess? Artemis? I was ready to call bullshit, then a thought occurred to me. This guy was 20 feet tall and had glowing fiery red eyes. I could definitely sway my beliefs. He got out of his throne and gestured for me to follow him. So, I did. Because why not.

We walked down the same way I had come, and he began speaking as he walked past each picture, describing all the events happening in the paintings. As he went on and on, I noticed some of them were very similar to other tales I had read about. But they contained a different deity of the sun. I will ask about it later.

As we got to the end of the overly long hallway, he opened the doors into another huge room, which seemed to be a giant training gym of some sort, with all sorts of equipment. Everything seemed way too high tech to be human, so I assumed it was made by higher power being things.

He stopped walking and turned to look down at me.

"Ah forgive my rudeness, I forgot about my appearance in the presence of mortals." He shrunk down to a measly 7 foot being, still towering over my frame.

"Now, as to why you are here. I have had two important roles two in all my years. One was being the great titan of the sun, and the other was being titan of fire. Now the latter has a role that has not been filled, because there has not been a competent successor. I believe you will be the perfect fit. And to get some revenge on those treacherous gods."

…. Huh?

"Excuse me, Your Highness, or whatever you'd like to be called, but I don't have fire powers. I'm just a kid."

"You can address me as Helios, and I do beg to differ. Are you aware of your heritage young Perseus?"

I frowned. "Percy please. My heritage? No, I was adopted. I don't know anything about my real parents."

He grinned an almost sinister grin. "Well, you see, most spawn of the gods are offspring from an immortal and mortal soul contract that is fulfilled by the birth of a demigod. When a new god or immortal is born, that soul contract is fulfilled by the birth of a new god, which has not happened in millennia. You were destined to be the next god, but you happened to be born with another contract being intact, one that prevented you from being a god."

"Seeing as I am the god of sight, I foresaw a great future for you, ushering in a golden age for human and godkind. Changing the world for good. But it was stripped from time the moment Styx acted upon her sworn promise. Your godhood was taken. But something else remained."

"You see, when a god is denounced from godhood, it is supposed to transfer their soul into a mortal capacity. Yours did not, and I believe it is because she bestowed her curse upon you the same time, she took your godhood. This means your immortal essence merged with the Styx's blessing and then was removed. You are essentially nigh invulnerable and almost a god. Not quite either one, but way more than a mortal or half-blood can ever hope to be."

I frowned. "So, I am a ¾ god or something?"

He frowned as well. "I'm not too good at determining, but I'd say it's closer to 9/10 god."

Hmm, well this was all interesting. But what did he want me to do exactly? "I'm still just a kid, with no powers or anything. What can I possibly do to help you?"

He grinned. "Well, you won't be helping just me. You will be helping the people who have been betrayed and wronged by the gods. Specifically, those wronged by Zeus, Apollo and Ares. I hate them the most, as they are some of the worst the pantheon has to offer." When he said Apollo, his eyes burned a little brighter, and I had a feeling it was with hate. Which makes sense, Apollo seemed to have taken his spot.

"What's your deal with Apollo?" I asked. He heaved a big sigh.

"He's the biggest disappointment I could've ever had. Not only that, but he disrespected and denounced me as soon as his father granted him my role. Erased. As if I was non-existent. I will explain more later, but for now, you should meet your allies."

I finally noticed that the gym had two stories to it. On the second floor were two beings staring down at me. One was a huge man made of a mountain of muscle and the next was a tall sexy woman wearing all black.

"Who are they?" I asked, obviously I wouldn't know them.

"Why, they are going to be your teachers! Let me introduce you to Hephaestus and Nemesis, your favorite scorned gods."

Thalia P.O.V.

After crash-landing into the lake Theo and Grover were looking at me weirdly. I'm scared of heights. If these idiots didn't know before, they sure as Hades did now. I know, it doesn't make sense, daughter of the Lord of the Skies and all that. Something about being too high up doesn't sit right with me. Theo drained the water from our clothes as Chiron approached the lake.

"Take care, sweethearts!" Apollo called after the Hunters. He winked at Theo. "Watch out for those prophecies, Theo. I'll see you soon."

"What do you mean?"

Instead of answering, he hopped back in the bus. "Later, Thalia," he called. "And, uh, be good!"

He gave me a wicked smile, as if he knew something I didn't. Then he closed the doors and revved the engine. I turned aside as the sun chariot took off in a blast of heat. When I looked back, the lake was steaming. A red Maserati soared over the woods, glowing brighter and climbing higher until it disappeared in a ray of sunlight.

Chiron clopped to up to us, and Nico almost about lost his mind. "Dude, you're half horse! I don't have a figurine of you. What's your power level?"

Chiron looked taken aback and turned to me and the rest of the group. We all shrugged. "We'll have to explain. It's a long story."

Chiron nodded. "You must be Nico di Angelo. You were successful in your mission then?" he directed the question towards us.

"Well… there was another guy that might've been a half-blood, but he disappeared."

Chiron frowned. "Grover only sent the report on two. Where did he disappear to?"

"Oh, dear," Mr. D said in a bored voice, "Not another one lost."

I'd been trying not to pay attention to Mr. D, but he was kind of hard to ignore in his neon orange leopard-skin warm-up suit and his purple running shoes. (Like Mr. D had ever run a day in his immortal life.) A golden laurel wreath was tilted sideways on his curly black hair, which must've meant he'd won the last hand of cards.

"What do you mean?" I asked. "Who else is lost?"

Just then, Grover trotted into the room, grinning like crazy. He had a black eye and red lines on his face that looked like a slap mark. "The Hunters are all moved in!"

Chiron frowned. "The Hunters, eh? I see we have much to talk about. I assume Bianca…" He glanced at Nico. I merely nodded with a scowl. "Grover, perhaps you should take our young friend to the den and show him our orientation film. Annabeth, your cabin is in desperate need of your attention."

"But… Oh, right. Yes, sir."

"Orientation film?" Nico asked. "Is it G or PG? 'Cause Bianca is kinda strict—"

"It's PG-13," Grover said.

"Cool!" Nico happily followed him out of the room. Annabeth followed but gave us a quick glance, trying to warn us with her eyes not to say anything stupid. Probably. I can't read eyes.

"Now," Chiron said to Theo and me, "perhaps you two should sit down and tell us the whole story."

When we were done, Chiron turned to Mr. D. "We should send out a search for this boy immediately. If he was strong enough to end a monster such as the manticore in one punch, he would be very valuable at camp. "

Mr. D sniffed. "Certainly not!"

Theo and I both started complaining. We were starting to get very couped up at camp with nothing to do but spar with each other. But Mr. D held up his hand. He had that purplish angry fire in his eyes that usually meant something bad and godly was going to happen if we didn't shut up.

"While you were gone, three demigods disappeared into thin air. We can only believe they have died or been kidnapped by some unknown god playing a practical joke. You already procured a new brat, you have no need for another."

I was getting mad at this guy. "Do you not care for demigods? We help you gods and all you do is-" Theo quickly shoved his hand over my mouth.

For a second, there was no sound except the crackle of the fire. The light reflected in Mr. D's eyes, giving him a sinister look. He opened his mouth to say something—probably a curse that would blast me to smithereens—when Nico burst into the room, followed by Grover.

"SO COOL!" Nico yelled, holding his hands out to Chiron. "You're… you're a centaur!"

Chiron managed a nervous smile. "Yes, Mr. di Angelo, if you please. Though, I prefer to stay in human form in this wheelchair."

"And, whoa!" He looked at Mr. D. "You're the wine dude? No way!"

Mr. D turned his eyes away from me and gave Nico a look of loathing. "The wine dude?"

"Dionysus, right? Oh, wow! I've got your figurine."

"My figurine."

"In my game, Mythomagic. And a holofoil card, too! And even though you've only got like five hundred attack points and everybody thinks you're the lamest god card, I totally think your powers are sweet!"

"Ah." Mr. D seemed truly perplexed, which probably saved my life. "Well, that's… gratifying."

"Theo," Chiron said quickly, "you and Thalia go down to the cabins. Inform the campers we'll be playing capture the flag tomorrow evening."

"Capture the flag?" Theo asked. "But we don't have enough—"

"It is a tradition," Chiron said. "A friendly match, whenever the Hunters visit."

"Yeah," I muttered. "I bet it's real friendly."

As me and Theo made our way out of the big house, I turned on him. "Why didn't you have my back Kelp Head? You saw how strong that guy was! He could've been a great hero!"

"Thals, we've already got Ares and Hades on our bad sides, we don't need more immortal enemies. Especially not ones that live in the neighborhood."

He was right, of course. But that didn't mean I had to like it. I shrugged him off and went to my cabin. It was a depressing place. I showered, the hot water soothing the last few days out of my system. I wasn't quite ready for bed, and I didn't feel like training, so I decided to dip into the Athena cabin to grab a book to read. I had been getting into them lately because of Annabeth.

She had found me a couple of great books on fighting monsters that would be useful soon. I could feel it in my bones. As I approached the cabin, I was greeted with the sight of several Athena campers scrambling out, yelling about Stolls and a spider. I couldn't help but laugh. I entered it, preparing to fry a spider.

Annabeth was there, beating the shit out of a plastic spider with a book, huffing and puffing. "What did that ever do to you?"

She whirled around, book at the ready. I held up my hands in a don't-shoot posture. She lowered the book. "Hey Thals, came here for a new book?"

I nodded.

"I have one ready for you. Since you and Theo seem to get into it a lot with the gods, I got a book here that goes over them and their major stories. Alphabetically."

I furrowed my brows. "Isn't that just an encyclopedia of gods?"

She grinned. "Getting smarter, aren't you Zippy?"

I friendly growled at her. "Whatever, it better be a good read."

She just smiled and handed me the book.

I made my way back to my cabin, getting ready to settle in for the night and read into the realm of the gods. I made it all the way to H and got to Helios. I noticed some of these stories seemed very similar to the ones of Apollo. I guess some of them got mixed up. I soon fell asleep reading into Poseidon, the father of my arch-nemesis friend Theseus.

Percy's P.O.V.

I was whirling around several automans, avoiding their lunges and attacks. I had to bide my time for one of them to make a mistake. Which didn't happen very often, considering they were programmed to be near perfect in battle. I took everything I had to keep dodging their strikes, until one slightly overextended on its strike. I grinned. My turn.

I grabbed its arm and swung it into the one that had been coming in for its next attack, sending them both tumbling. I redirected the third's jab and kicked it square in the stomach, sending it flying into the wall before focusing on the last one. We circled each other, waiting for the other's move. I never made the first move, always patient.

The robot finally made a move, feinting a jab, before quickly dropping and swinging its leg at mine. I somersaulted, grabbing the leg as it passed under me. I lifted the automan and threw it against the wall. The lights in the room brightened and a slow clap appeared behind me.

Heph was not a very happy dude whenever I destroyed his robots, but they were made to be easily maintenanced. He typed something into the keyboard that was on his wrist and all the parts started flying together to join back to their original forms.

"So, you've beaten level two. Just 98 more and you'll be ready for lunch."

I groaned. Helios and Hephaestus and made a training chamber using Lotus-Eater powers to adjust the time flow in the chamber and then Helios and blessed me into an semi-immortal much like the Hunters of Artemis so I wouldn't be affected be the stream of time. It was to train and prepare me in the shortest amount of time possible.

Apparently, there was some deadline I had to meet. Not sure what I was supposed to be training for, as they never gave me any details. But they were the primary teachers in my combat and fire power training, and Nemesis taught me about the world of the gods. The good and the bad. She was the subject matter expert on it, and she also helped train me in other skills, such as cooking and car/motorcycle maintenance.

She said they were skills that would help clear my mind and provide clarity and peace for my soul. Whatever that meant. But I did find myself enjoying working on a motorcycle she had brought in, and I loved cooking. Something about seeing their faces when I prepared something that tasted good satisfied my soul.

Today was apparently my birthday in the real world. That's the time I called the world where time didn't pass so weird. I usually prepared lunch and dinner for the four gods and I, but today I was only supposed to train in the morning. Thank the gods.

I got to level 30 before I was too worn out to go on. I'd only ever managed to make it to level 31 before the robots skill differed me, and I was overwhelmed and outsmarted by them.

Heph said the average demigod would be about level 15, and a big three would be 25. So, I wasn't too disappointed by my performance, but I never seemed to do good enough to please Helios. He never congratulated me on my new records, always just saying that he expected more.

Today was a new day though, because I came to the kitchen of the palace and was met by 4 big, wrapped boxes and a whole lunch spread. The gods were waiting next to their respective presents. I couldn't help but smile. I missed my family back home, so this reminded me of them.

"Oh, you guys shouldn't have!"

Rhode grunted. "We know smartass, but we all do acknowledge you are working hard and deserve a reward for your hard work and dedication to our cause. So today, you learn your heritage and receive these presents."

Rhode was like a strict aunt, she was always so serious, but I swear I had seen her smile once, when it was just her and Helios in a room together.

I decided to open Nemesis's present first. I ripped the lid off and inside were brass knuckles. Not your average brass knuckles as they were made of some sort of metal that glittered white with some green sort of light greenish hue. It looked like a cross between silver and diamonds.

"They're made of Adamantine, indestructible and can kill any deity. I figured you needed a good close combat weapon considering you specialize in it."

I slipped them on, and they instantly transformed into rings on either pinky finger. "Just name them and say the name mentally and they will appear."

Hmm. I would name them Death and Destruction. They glowed slightly before dimming down. I wished for them, and they appeared and disappeared. Fucking cool as fuck.

I gave Nemesis a hug, which she returned before stepping back. Rhode stepped up next, handing me a slightly bigger box. Inside of it were an iPod touch and a pair of Ray Bans. I looked at her questioning. Demigods sent out a beacon of power when they used electronics.

"I configured the iPod to not send out a beacon to monsters so you may use them as you please. The sunglasses are heat proof and turn into a mask when you press the button on the side."

I nodded. Wait. "What do I need a mask for?"

Heph stepped in. "You're almost ready to be sent on missions, and it's to conceal your identity from the rest of the gods."

He handed me a larger box, about the size of a skateboard. I unwrapped it and it was a board, shaped like a skateboard, but it had no wheels and was made of metal.

"It's a hoverboard. It's activated by your powers only. It can be used without powers, but the more fire you put into it, the higher and faster you can go."

Now that was sweet. I was still having trouble with my fire powers, which is why Helios was probably so displeased with me. But I couldn't help it. They were hard to control and summon. Helios walked up to me. "For your hard work and determination, I have decided on giving you a gift that will further challenge you.

Wait, there's no way he made me Jet's hook swords. They were literally the coolest looking things I'd ever seen. I had no idea how to use them, but I would learn.

Helios was the last one to approach. I took the top of the box, and I was met with 4 bracelets. "They are enchanted, weighted bracelets. You have strength that is immeasurable, I believe if you slowly increase the weight of them, you will get stronger and faster once you take them off. The weight will increase the stronger you grow. And the faster you get."

I put the bracelets and anklets. They weren't unnecessarily heavy, but they did provide a burden to my movements. They were probably about 50 pounds apiece. Well, this was going to be fun. Wait, they said a mission.

"You mentioned a mission?" I asked, wondering how soon I could do it.

"Ah yes. But first, your heritage young one. You will learn about your past and how it will mold your future. Come, sit down and we'll explain it all to you.