1. Thanks a lot to NessaRoseFangirl for helping me beta this story. Also thanks to Ana-DaughterofHades who helped me a lot with a prior version of this chapter.

2. Any error here is mine and not from my reviewer. If you spot anything or have a doubt about the grammar used or plot just PM me, I'm always swift to answer.

3. Enjoy

Some people said that there were things in life you just couldn't plan for, as a twelve-year-old who had seen monsters appear out of nowhere, Annabeth couldn't disagree more.

Not every plan could work as it was initially conceived, that much was true, but it didn't mean that planning had been useless. Far from it. Annabeth thought of plans not as recipes but as guides which were crucial in decision making. Some failed plans could give you insights on how to proceed in similar scenarios in the future. No matter what, plans always gave you the foundation to act with confidence.

A goal without a plan was merely a wish.

Even though it had been years since she last faced real monsters, Annabeth remembered her previous experiences much too well. She tried to keep in mind what had worked and what had failed horribly against a certain kind of foe. It could save her life in some unforeseen future situations. The blond girl was pretty aware, for example, that when facing enemies with more than one head it was paramount to keep all of them from focusing on the same target. Pretty basic stuff really.

So, as she had told her siblings before, even surprise had to be planned carefully.

CLASH!

The sword fell down heavily, sending wood splinters into the air. Once again missing its target.

"Come here and face me like a man!" Boomed a voice, amplified by the acoustics of the arena.

As the burly kid freed his sword from the unfortunate bench, Annabeth continued looking impassive. She had her arms crossed over her chest, studying the match closely from the fourth row.

So far her brother Malcolm had been dodging the attacks in an acceptable fashion, waiting for an opening, as was logical when facing a bigger opponent.

"This is a fight, not a race. I should've known Athena children were all cowards!" boomed Mark, the burly kid in front of Malcolm. He had a sleeveless jacket vest under his leather armor, and a military haircut very common on Ares children.

Malcolm didn't engage in the conversation. The boy's dirty blond hair was hidden under his helmet and his grey eyes were fixed on his opponent. His sword was shorter, which didn't help him in terms of reach, but he was clearly betting on saving energy.

Annabeth could relate. The blond girl's weapon of choice was a celestial bronze knife, which she had received as a gift a long time ago. It gave her a great sense of freedom when attacking, yet reach had always been an issue to overcome.

In the stands, children from Athena and Ares were cheering for their respective siblings, while kids from other cabins tried to pick their favorites. Lauren Huntington, Annabeth's sister, was explaining to some younger kids the tactics at play in the fight. The girl was Athena's cabin co-counselor, but she was looking as if she would rather the teaching was done by someone else. Not far away, the Stoll brothers, from Hermes, were picking up some bets on the outcome.

"What do you think?" a black-haired boy at her left asked. It was Michael Yew, a son of Apollo.

"He has improved. I'm not sure if he'll distinguish the right moment to strike," she answered.

It was just the second year at camp for Malcolm Pace, but he was already an important part of cabin six. He was a year older than Annabeth and had all the traits of a son of Athena. He was even more passionate about books than Annabeth, which was saying something. Malcolm's interests were more scientific than hers though. The boy had a large collection of books back at the cabin which, despite having no problem with sharing, were so oddly organized in his bookcase that only he was able to locate them easily.

Annabeth tried to help him at camp, as she did with every other sibling who came to her looking for advice. As the other co-counselor of Athena's cabin, it was her duty. Lauren and she had taken the lead of the cabin on an impromptu meeting a few months ago, after it became obvious that Hector — the previous counselor — was not going to return. No official counselor had been recognized yet.

Being sixteen and having some following, Lauren had been put forward for the position at first. But Annabeth, who besides being only twelve was a natural leader and had more years at camp than almost anyone, was quickly raised as a contender. It was an odd competition. Neither of them was directly antagonizing with the other, for they were Athena's children and knew better. However, they were both trying to prove to the rest of the cabin who should be the official counselor in their own ways.

It was strange in a way, trying to win the counselorship when so many of her siblings were older than she was. Nevertheless, Annabeth never felt as if she was not up for the task. She was convinced she could do even a better job than Lauren at it.

It had been five years already since she arrived at camp, as evidenced by the five beads in her camp collar. It had been that experience paired with her skills which had made it possible for her to be a real contender for the counselor position. Being an all year rounder, Annabeth knew almost everybody at camp and had a close relationship to Chiron as well.

All that and they still didn't trust her enough.

Annabeth frowned as another slash from Mark's sword passed inches from Malcolm's left shoulder. The blond girl knew something big was happening and the solstice was the key. A deadline was coming and Olympus was unsettled, that much was obvious from the casual words she had overheard and her conversations with Luke. Even so, Chiron didn't share the whole situation with her. The satyrs avoided the situation whenever possible as well.

Annabeth wanted to help, especially since this could be the opportunity she had been waiting for.

"That was his chance. He missed the opening." Michael Yew said.

Annabeth nodded. Hoping that she hadn't missed her own chance as well.

Ever since she had arrived at camp, Annabeth had been waiting for a quest of her own. A chance to go out there and prove if all the knowledge she had acquired these past years was really useful in the real world. A quest would also help her secure the counselorship. Annabeth had been out there before, with monsters, but Thalia and Luke had done almost all the fighting back then.

Thalia. She could hardly believe it had been so many years since she was gone. Annabeth still kept those times close to her heart. Luke setting shelters here and there, Thalia putting monsters away with her shield, all of them telling stories and laughing by the campfire at night...

Her thoughts were cut short at the same time that Mark's guard was. This time Malcolm did see the opening, but he made the mistake of attacking right when he should have gone left. Mark got a minor cut, however, the Ares boy was able to kick Malcolm away. Annabeth's brother lost his helmet as he landed hard on his butt. Then, Mark was fast in putting a much larger cut on Malcolm's thigh.

"Ouh!" the crowd said in unison.

The fight was over. Malcolm had lost.

On the other side of the arena Clarisse, the big girl who was Ares cabin's counselor, smirked wickedly. The girl had a bandana in military patterns, a camo jacket, and big cargo pants. She turned to Annabeth with a mocking expression. As the gods themselves, Ares' and Athena's cabins had a long rivalry going on. Annabeth and Clarisse did as well.

The frown on Annabeth's forehead was caused by Clarisse and not by Malcolm's defeat. After all, defeats where a chance to learn from your own mistakes and Malcolm would get over it. However, Ares' children were terrible winners. As if on cue, Mark moved forward, about to needlessly kick his fallen opponent. Annabeth and the rest of her siblings stood up in protest.

"That's enough," a calm voice stopped everyone at the arena, including Mark.

It was Luke. He was the sword instructor and always avoided unnecessary injuries. He was hard with teaching but just as well. He quickly dismissed the practice, not before giving some pointers to both Mark and Malcolm.

When Luke turned to Annabeth and waved from afar, the girl smiled, trying to contain herself from blushing. The truth was that Annabeth had had a crush on Luke ever since he and Thalia found her after escaping home. Luke even gave her the knife she currently used. Annabeth always had it with her.

"Anything bothering you?" Luke asked Annabeth after she reached him, in the middle of the fighting arena. Almost everyone was already on their way out of there.

"You know what bothers me," she replied.

Luke showed a playful smile from the corner of his mouth as he took off his armor. "So Chiron hasn't said anything, then?"

Annabeth shook her head. "Even Grover knows, but it's obvious he won't say anything either."

The satyr was a close friend to Annabeth and Luke, being the one who found them and brought them to camp. Maybe later he would let them know something, though it was unlikely to happen if Chiron didn't allow him to speak.

"That's the way things are, uh? Don't worry Annabeth, we'll know soon enough. One way or the other," Luke said, looking away briefly, "So the boy, is he it?"

Percy Jackson. Annabeth really didn't know.

She answered with a shrug. "Can't tell until he recovers. He only grunts and drools for now."

Sometime ago Annabeth had heard pieces of the Great Prophecy, it had really frightened her then, but Chiron had tried to calm her after the fact. He had told Annabeth that her time for a quest would come once the boy of the prophecy arrived.

Was Percy Jackson that boy? Why else would Chiron go in person to look after him? Annabeth would have to keep a close eye on the boy to find out.

Luke laughed hard, "Who knows? Maybe that's a powerful hero's trait."

If there was something that could be said about Luke is that he always tried to find the best in other people. Yes, he had resentment towards his godly father as many campers did, but when it came to demigods he was always trying to bring out the better version of themselves.

Fortunately, Luke had knelt to tie his Nike's laces, otherwise, he would have seen Annabeth smiling like a fool at him. She needed to keep those reactions in check.

"Hey!" a girl's voice echoed in the arena.

Julie Sandoval was rushing down the steps to them. As there were barely a handful of people in the place now, her steps echoed loudly all the way down.

Annabeth noticed that the Demeter counselor's reaction was serious, even from afar it had a certain urgency to it. Once she reached Annabeth and Luke, she addressed them both.

"War Council," the black-haired girl said. She didn't have to say anything more.

As counselors of their respective cabins, Annabeth and Luke were pretty aware of what war councils entailed. They were crucial meetings summoned by Chiron to discuss plans for an ongoing emergency, or sometimes to pass along an important announcement. War councils were common when issuing a new quest for instance, but also to share the activities and shower schedules at the start of camp.

Camp had officially started already so the schedule was already up in all visible places, in bullet-point structure. It was uncertain what this council was about.

o0o0o

When they got to the Big House most of the other counselors were already there, even Lauren. At one side of the ping-pong table, which was their usual place for the councils, Lee Fletcher and Castor Jones murmured with spirited faces. Their expressions didn't surprise Annabeth, nobody was expecting a Council right now with no event to discuss.

No event except for the arrival of the new boy, a little voice whispered in Annabeth's head. New hopes came to Annabeth, maybe Percy Jackson really was the one she had been waiting for. Maybe she would finally be able to go on a quest.

The daughter of Athena was excited about the possibility of course, however, something was not quite right. Clarisse was too serious, she didn't even mock Annabeth and Lauren about Malcolm losing his fight; a sign that there was something bigger going on. Annabeth followed Clarisse's eyes to the farthest end of the table where she found Chiron in his fake wheelchair. The centaur was staring soberly at Annabeth and Mr. D was nowhere to be seen. What really puzzled her though, was the presence of two kids sitting by Chiron's side.

"Chiron, what's this about?" Annabeth asked.

"An announcement, it could be said. We'll get to it once we're all here."

Annabeth nodded and sat down next to Lauren. Her half-sister only nodded to her in acknowledgment, she was focused on the kids as well. Luke took the seat next to Clarisse, also noticing the attention on the two kids. They had come rushing straight from the arena, so he was still in his training gear with his trusty sword fastened to his side. Julie, who had brought them there in a hurry, sat at Annabeth's other side.

As it was common with mysteries, the kids' presence was a hook to Annabeth's attention. She thought they had to be demigods, for they couldn't be inside the camp barriers otherwise. Still, new kids were rarely the cause behind war councils. That's what the induction video was for.

The boy was blond and was at least a couple of years younger than her, Annabeth noticed. There was something familiar about him, but she just couldn't pinpoint what it was. The little girl on the other side reminded Annabeth of herself though. The resemblance was remarkable which meant she had to be a daughter of Athena also. Both kids were wearing orange camp T-shirts already.

"Do you know her?" Lauren asked.

"I don't think so," Annabeth whispered back.

Annabeth had not expected the question and yet she understood why Lauren had made it. Even when everybody at the ping-pong table was looking at them, the two kids only had eyes for Annabeth. The little girl was even smiling at her and seemed about to wave when the blond boy stopped her.

It was official. This was getting weird.

Next to Clarisse, Luke wasn't even blinking. He was the camp leader of sorts, so he was probably trying to understand the situation. Luke had that old look in his eyes as if he was deciding whether the new kids were dangerous or not.

It was then the door opened, catching everyone's attention.

"Good, we can start now," Chiron said as Charles and Silena entered the room, escorted by Grover. "I'm sorry to let you know Mr. D is currently unavailable. He had an important meeting to attend at the Council of Elders and asked me to apologize to you on his behalf."

Grover didn't hide his loud snorting.

"Yeah right!" someone said across the ping-pong table.

After the newcomers sat down, Annabeth noticed Grover's eyes on her too. As soon as he realized she had caught him staring, the satyr looked quickly away. Grover knew something about it. It was always obvious when he was hiding things, like when she asked him earlier about the solstice.

"Are the kids going to stay?" Lee asked.

"Yes, they're going to stay. They're the reason we're here in the first place," Chiron answered.

Few whispers came from around the table before Silena voiced everyone's question. "Who are they?"

Chiron took a deep breath, taking his time. It was as if the centaur, with all of his experience, wasn't sure how to share what he knew. Grover seemed especially interested in the ceiling just then.

"What I'm about to say may be hard to believe at first, yet it's nothing but the truth. These children," Chiron stopped briefly to look at the kids by his side, "they came today, from the future."

Annabeth was not sure if she had heard him correctly. He couldn't have said what she thought he said. All she saw at the ping-pong table were puzzled faces and short laughs of disbelief, as if they didn't know if Chiron was joking.

"Future? As in time travel?" asked Charles Beckendorf, the dark-skinned counselor for Hephaestus cabin.

"That's correct. These children have not even been born yet, their parents are quite young at this time." Chiron insisted. The centaur seemed like he couldn't believe what he was saying either.

Was he really serious then? Annabeth tried to consider the possibility. She was living in a world with Greek gods and monsters, so fantastical things happened every time. And still, the blond girl had not heard anything like time travel before, which was something considering how often things repeated in their world. She tried to remember some old story, something she was missing, something that could explain this. She got nothing.

"You're joking, right?" Silena's voiced everybody's thoughts.

"I'm afraid not. I've been talking with them and I believe they truly are who they claim to be," the centaur said, "They have no idea how they got here either, which is something we need to solve."

The longest silence passed as people tried to process that. Lee scratched his head while Castor stared down wide-eyed.

"That's just— Wow," said Julie.

The whole idea of them being time travelers was not easy to digest, still, Annabeth knew Chiron wasn't someone who could be easily tricked. The girl had so many questions, yet she voiced the obvious one, "If they don't know, who does? How did they get here?"

"That's something I'm looking into. At this moment nothing is certain," It was strange looking at Chiron's expression as it went dark. It was as if for a moment the centaur's face could show his real age. "If someone here has received a message, or has a lead on how to return these kids to their time, this would be a good moment to speak up."

"But who are they then? Are they demigods?" asked Charles.

"Yes, in a slightly different way. None of their parents is actually a god."

"How is that possible? Demigods need to have a godly parent. That's why they're demigods in the first place." Lauren tried to argue.

"Yeah, they can't belong here," Silena added. The black wavy hair of Silena fell gracefully on her shoulders, as if arranged by magic. Surely it was, considering she was a daughter of Aphrodite.

"They're demigods and they do belong here," Chiron insisted. "The fact their parents are not gods doesn't mean there's no godly blood running through their veins."

"How can that be?" Julie asked.

"Demigods!" Annabeth interrupted. She wasn't sure of her suspicions yet but if she was right then the whole thing could get very awkward for one of them quite soon.

"What?" Clarisse turned, frowning.

"They're the kids of a demigod," Annabeth voiced out her thoughts.

The murmurs ran wild across the table this time and they did not stop until Castor spoke. "For real? But—"

"Godly grandparents," Lauren cut him off, matter-of-factly.

"Precisely." Annabeth nodded.

"But that can't be true. Demigods don't usually live that long," Lee replied, gaining uneasy faces all around.

"And even so, they would be only something like quarterbloods, right?" Castor added.

Chiron stopped more questions from being formed. "They are halfbloods. Grover can confirm my words."

All eyes moved to Grover. Annabeth hadn't thought what the satyr was doing at the Council until that moment. Grover took a deep breath, then he started to give them his explanation with a touch of nervousness on his voice. "I— they are. I mean, I didn't recognize it at first but they do smell like halfbloods."

"Isn't the smell weaker? They have less godly blood, don't they?" Julie asked.

"No, they definitely smell like halfbloods. Powerful ones, I think," Grover answered surprising all of them.

"But, how?"

"They should be weaker."

"Unless their demigod parent is a powerful one."

The arguing and theories thrown about were so loud that Annabeth had trouble following what was being said. She was about to say both of their parents could be demigods when the boy silenced everyone. "They are powerful! They saved Olympus!"

"They?"

"Olympus?"

The commotion increased tenfold, obviously. Annabeth couldn't understand what was being said anymore. Luke was the only one surprisingly quiet, his face had a worried expression to it that was very uncommon for him. It made the pale scar under his eye stand out.

"Silence! All of us need to calm down for a moment, please. Grover is right, they are halfbloods. Both of their parents are demigods. About the Olympus part," he stopped for a moment, looking oddly towards the blond boy. "It's the first time I'm hearing about it."

"Oh Come on!" Luke's finally said. He stood up, bringing both hands forcibly to the ping-pong table. Annabeth didn't recognize him for a moment, there were no traces of his typical mischievous smile. "You're not seriously considering this, are you? He's obviously lying."

"He's not! Mom and Dad are heroes! They had this huge fight in Olympus and they won!" the little girl yelled as she pressed her lips together, she had a nasty frown on her and her arms were crossed over her chest

Luke was taken aback by that girl's determination. Annabeth thought he was getting paler by the second.

Castor let his face rest on his hand, "This is so weird."

"That's an understatement," added Lauren.

At that moment, the little black-haired girl whispered something to Chiron.

"In a moment Sophia, she doesn't know yet, remember?" the centaur answered calmly to the girl's silent request.

"What did she say?" Julie asked.

"She wants to go with her mother."

"Her mother?"

"But who— ?" Silena was looking carefully at the kids, then a gasp escaped her. She had noticed something, but she was hardly the only one who had done so. In a few seconds, everybody was staring at Annabeth in awe, even Luke had his blue eyes fixed on her. The son of Hermes sat down, taking his hand to his forehead.

Then it hit her. Annabeth turned to look at the little girl one more time, Sophia. The girl did look an awful lot like her except for her eyes, hair, and some minor details here and there. She had initially thought that she was just another daughter of Athena, but it was true that she had way more in common with Annabeth than with Lauren. Suddenly everything was clear.

Her Mother. A demigod. Annabeth's thoughts were rushing very fast in her head.

"But, Me?" Annabeth pointed at her chest just to make it clear who 'me' was.

"Hi Mom," the blond boy spoke quietly and more gasps were heard.

"Did he say what I think he said?" Lee asked Silena.

"I heard him too. Annabeth explain yourself, is there something you haven't told us?" the Aphrodite girl was giggling.

"I— No!" surely Annabeth was completely red. This couldn't be happening, she thought, she was only twelve.

"Can I go now?" Sophia asked Chiron.

"Annabeth, is it okay with you?" Chiron asked her. Annabeth was still pretty much shocked, she didn't even understand what was Chiron asking her.

"I think I believe her. She looks upset," Julie whispered to Annabeth.

Annabeth nodded without realizing what she was agreeing to. It took just a few seconds for the little girl to be standing next to Annabeth, hugging her. Annabeth didn't know what to do so she kept staring at that little version of herself.

Almost everyone in the room was surprised. Annabeth was way beyond that.

Sophia started to pull on Annabeth's orange shirt, trying to get her attention. "Is it true, Mommy? You don't remember us? Rio says we're in the past, but I don't know."

Annabeth stared at her, speechless.

"Mommy?" the girl insisted.

"Hey, Annabeth, congratulations!" Lee said and a few smirks were heard. Annabeth glared at him, then turned her attention back to the girl, Sophia.

The little girl appeared to be confused. Annabeth knew none of this was her fault, still, it was too much to take. Sophia looked more like her younger sister than her daughter.

The sad expression on Sophia was soon too much to ignore, it was affecting Annabeth somehow. Yes, Sophia's hair couldn't possibly be more black, but she still reminded her so much of her own reflection in the mirror on the bad days. Annabeth saw her and kept thinking about herself, alone after running away from home, trying to hide from an unknown monster in some dark alley.

"Hi," Annabeth mumbled doubtfully, trying to smile at the girl. She felt the need to make the girl feel better, to tell her everything was going to be okay.

This is just a dream, Annabeth told herself. Sophia smiled back and hugged her again. The girl's bright green eyes shined with hope. She was very cute.

"Perfect! Another know-it-all girl," Clarisse complained. Annabeth threw a nasty look in her direction, at her side, Lauren didn't look very pleased with Clarisse either.

"This is a complex situation, I know, but we can handle it," Chiron's words caught Annabeth's attention. "Rio, the boy, is ten. He'll not be born for several years. Sophia is his sister, she's just six. Thinking about it, they were born in the last timeline, this one has already been changed."

Annabeth gave a more studious look at the boy, he was her son also. Rio had her blond hair and her eyes, but aside from that he didn't look much like Annabeth.

"You're really buying their story!" Luke was on his feet again. "Don't let them fool you!"

Annabeth jumped in her place after seeing Luke acting like that. It was not usual for him to lose control. "Luke calm down."

"You're the Luke guy!? The son of Hermes?" the boy, Rio, asked, pointing at him.

Annabeth noticed the nervous looks Rio and Sophia were throwing at Luke and how hard Luke was looking back at the boy. For an odd reason, Luke wasn't answering the boy's question and Annabeth even got the impression he was sweating.

"Of course he is!" Charles said.

A weird sensation came then to Annabeth, as if something dangerous was about to happen. The tension was undeniable.

"Is he the one you fought in Olympus, Mommy? The bad guy?" Sophia asked innocently. Annabeth didn't know what to make of those words. It was as if Sophia was speaking in a different language.

"The bad guy?" Julie asked, confused.

Astonished faces were exchanged, the counselors didn't know who to turn to. Castor was scratching his temple, his eyes on Chiron. Silena's nervous glances were set on Luke. Lee had a disbelief smile on him when he talked next, "Luke's not a bad guy."

"But he almost killed Mommy and Daddy! And he had many bad friends!" Sophia said. No one was smiling now.

Chiron turned to Rio, asking for confirmation with a stern look.

"Mom says the Luke guy wasn't bad. She says he just made wrong choices," the blond boy said with a frightened voice, his eyes fixed on Luke. "But, in the stories, he gets an army of monsters and attacks camp. Some of Dad's and Mom's friends die."

Silence.

It couldn't be true. They were surely talking about a different Luke. This Luke, her Luke, was not a traitor. Annabeth knew him. It had to be a mistake.

Once Annabeth had convinced herself of that, she turned quickly to see Luke's expression, and what she saw unsettled her even more. Luke had a steel-like look set on Chiron, one hand gripping at the table so hard that it looked like he might break it. Why wasn't he denying any of it?

Chiron and Luke stared defiantly at each other, for what seemed like a long time. It was as if they were having a silent conversation.

"Luke..." the centaur finally said, trying to get out of his chair, slowly.

Then, out of nowhere, complete mayhem.