Chapter Seven (Resolve)

As the world unravels, every step into the unknown is filled with fear.

There was low chatter from the other demigods before me.

Chrysilla and Adrian were peering over some of the papers spread on the table before us, shifting them as they continued to discuss the monsters we had already encountered and what we could face in the future.

Adrian had his notepad, quickly jotting down small notes as they continued to talk.

I shifted slightly on the piece of log which we called chairs, in the small command tent we had set up. It was only about two weeks since we had left camp and these meetings had already proven useful on dozens of occasions.

The monster attacks were an almost daily occurrence at this point, ranging from a stray here and there to a small group of various monsters. It had been more of a nuisance than anything.

Yet it still highlighted a lot of issues.

We lost a few tents, and some supplies and there were too many injuries, albeit minor ones.

The group was still very disjointed and severely lacked coordination. As hard as I tried, there just wasn't much that I could do to fix the whole situation instantly. Hades, I still had trouble getting them to wake up on time to train each day.

I never expected them to be so used to sleeping in! I mean, how did they ever get anything done while waking up close to twelve?

And not to mention the fact that most of the ambushes that were best defended were those that occurred in the morning when I was only accompanied by Chrysilla, Marc, Adrian, and Ajax.

Well, Cassandra also.

She had taken a liking to me, and I couldn't quite say no to the cute daughter of Tyche. She had become my surrogate sister of sorts, often staying close to my side when I wasn't busy training the demigods or myself or attending these meetings.

In many ways, she grounded me the most in the camp. She would ask me to tell her about my adventures and ask genuine questions or add the cutest comments with sad eyes when I had to tell her about the harder moments I had faced.

"Life is shit!"

I promise that hearing this from an eight-year-old is the best way to hear it.

Another quite comforting development was that her abilities extended even to the monsters around her. We quickly learned that any attempts from the monsters to harm Cassandra seemed to simply avoid her. Danger had a penchant for straying from the daughter of Tyche.

Of all the things I'd seen in the world of the gods, there was something beyond surreal about seeing the magic of a child of luck.

"Percy!"

"Yeah! I'm listening."

Chrysilla smirked at me while Adrian groaned.

"You have the most experience with the Minotaur, what do we do if he decides to show up?"

"When."

My simple statement earned two confused looks as I slowly started to drift back into my inner contemplations.

"What do you mean when?"

I sighed, giving up on brooding for the moment.

"The Minotaur and I have had a bit of friendly banter going on since I first made it to camp. He gets out of Tartarus and tracks me down so I can send him back. To be honest, I think he must have two wives on either side and Percy Jackson is the express ticket to get back to his Tartarus honey."

I looked up from the sheets on the table a few moments later as I had only received silence as my response.

"What?"

I asked the two demigods who stared at me in surprise.

"It's just, I always heard that you were a sarcastic prick, but I never really experienced it until now."

Chrysilla nodded.

"I thought you had just matured out of it or something."

I chuckled at both of them.

"Matured out of my personality?"

"Well, I mean you've been much more… formal and in control."

I smiled softly at Chrysilla.

"Spending some time with the Romans would do that to you."

"But you weren't like this when you came back." The daughter of Athena pressed.

I sighed, letting my right hand trail through my hair as my gaze dropped back to the pieces of paper scattered across the table. I caught a small glimpse of the second book from Pelagios.

'The Children of the Sky'.

Most of the 'powered' demigods were doing well enough in their training, but I noticed that Oliver was struggling with his aerial abilities. I figured I should read up some more to see if I could help the son of Aeolus any more than I already could, which hadn't been that much.

"If the Minotaur reappears, just call me. I'll handle him. Like I said, it's personal between us."

I shifted the papers over the books again. I glanced up to see if the pair had noticed my little secret.

I was still a little on edge opening up to any of them yet. I wasn't sure if it was because I thought that one of them might have been planted by someone to make the group fail or if I was just still a lot more distraught by my breakup with Annabeth or maybe it was just the aftereffects of all the wars and my little vacation in Tartarus.

There was just a lot going on in my head that I couldn't sort through.

I realized that after deciding to make the group I'd need to overcome them, but there just seemed to be more and more issues popping up before I could figure it all out.

"Some of the girls might get jealous of you being so close with the Minotaur, Percy."

I snapped my head to Chrysilla, who had dropped a small stack of papers onto the table, serenading us with the soft clatter of paper on paper. The girl was sending a heated glare at Adrian who raised his hands and looked away from his half-sister.

"Some weapons might get jealous of me jamming my sword up your ass!"

"I said some girls, Chrysilla, not-"

"Finish that sentence, and I swear that I'll disfigure you so bad you'll be begging Mom to turn you into a male Medusa!"

Adrian paled a little, turning to me for support.

I shook my head at him, letting him roast under her continued fiery glower for a few moments longer as I shifted my attention to where I hid the book beneath the papers.

The group was in horrible shape right now, and I needed to do everything I could and more to make sure they could truly survive the worst that the world had to offer. As it stood, I wasn't sure many of them would have survived the Titan War, let alone this constant threat of monsters.

I sighed as I slipped a few more sheets over the book, pretending I was scanning them and piling them in an organized manner.

It didn't matter what was going on in my head at this point. Whatever it was, I would have to overcome it or push it aside, lest the group be overcome by its inability.

I shivered slightly at the grimness of the thought.

"I'll leave you two to handle your family affairs." I grinned at Adrian, who had been begging his sister for forgiveness. His eyes widened comically as I finally noticed that Chrysilla had actually drawn her sword.

Before he could utter a plea, I slipped out of the tent.

I paused for a moment once I was outside, smiling as the heat of the sun hugged my face. I squinted against the harsher sight of it for a moment, letting my eyes readjust as I took in the quiet chirping of the birds, colliding with the shrill scream from Adrian inside the tent.

It was simply a joy to be outside of the camp, all things considered.

I took a deep breath, enjoying the crisp air, before nodding to myself. I began making my way to the practice arenas to check up on the campers. I was supposed to meet up with the 'powered' in a few minutes, so I decided to pass the other training spots on the way.

"I can't believe we have to train still…"

"Shut up! You literally knew that this was what was going to happen!"

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I have to like it."

I heard the second person grunt in acknowledgement and smiled at the sound.

I finally cleared the tents that had obstructed my view, my smile widening as my guess as to the wielder of the pig-like grunt had been accurate.

"In fact, it's perfect that you don't like it."

Marc and Helen whipped their heads around at the sound of my voice. I raised my hands to placate them as I slowly made my way to Marc's side.

"How's the training going, teach?"

Marc took a sip of water from the canteen in his hand, thanking Helen as he passed it back to her, allowing her to quench her thirst once more.

"Terrible. I mean they're good fighters in their own right, but after facing Clarisse and you…' He shook his head as he trailed off, the silence speaking for him.

I patted his shoulder.

"It's good to have aspirations, but there are some things that are truly unattainable."

"I thought you were, like, super humble."

I turned to Helen with a smile.

"I am a lot of things, one of those being a realist… for the most part." I saw her about to rebut but I turned my eyes to the backs of the other trainees, who were lost in their idle chatter during their break.

"If a Titan were to appear, ready for blood, I would stand before them. Would you?"

I let the silence marinate the dampening mood.

"I would stand at your side."

I turned, smiling softly at Marc.

"But would you stand without me?"

The son of Ares looked down, the shame in his eyes clear. It must be difficult to admit defeat for Ares' children, Gods above know his father could hardly recognize the word despite it hitting him in the face so often.

"Just because you defeated a Titan on your own doesn't mean that we can't defeat one together! You may be strong enough on your own, but you still needed us, didn't you?"

"That's his point, Helen." Marc spook up, turning his head to face the daughter of Aphrodite.

"As individuals, we're nothing. But together… We need to get stronger together."

"And you're exactly the one who can whip this lot into shape."

I closed my eyes, letting my parting words linger as I continued to walk through the group. I had recently begun attempting a skill of a long-lost child of Poseidon.

'Mist Sight'

I had cringed when I first discovered that they gave names to each ability which seemed to be more prominent or restricted to one of Poseidon's children. It felt like a movie or an animated series or something that I saw when I was younger.

'Names have power!' Pelagios had chided me when I mocked them. I couldn't hold back the smile that formed on my face as I continued to stretch out my senses, using the water particles in the air to guide me forward.

"This shit sucks!"

"Yeah, we should be fighting monsters, not training!"

"Or maybe just sightseeing or something interesting at least!"

"Yeah, I left camp to get away from all of this shit, not be stuck doing it in a random forest."

"Maybe if you guys were to wake your asses up early, you'd get a little more action! Get your pompous shit holes up and let it get drilled into the dirt!"

A smirk formed on my lips at Marc's booming voice. I was tempted to open my eyes to see the looks on their faces, but I was already past the tents as I made my way over to the clearing that we used for the special powered training.

I knew that there would be some of the demigods here who weren't overly keen on what they had to do to survive, but it still irked me as to how ignorant they truly were. At times I wished I could have more of the veterans like Marc and Adrastea with us instead of all of these green demigods…

They deserved their rest behind the borders and the walls that would be erected.

A rush of wind blew past me towards the clearing, indicating that, at least, Oliver was already up and training. As I stepped past the tree line, I was pleasantly surprised to see not only the son of Aeolus but almost all of the other 'powered' demigods.

I definitely needed a better name for them.

I stayed slightly out of their sight as I decided to simply watch them.

Despite all the things I had read and learnt about my abilities there wasn't much I truly understood about their powers yet. For the most part, I had been able to offer them small inspiration based on how I learned to control my abilities, but I could tell that there was something inherently different as I continued to see the fluctuations in their power output.

I leaned against the tree to my right, choosing to observe them.

Oliver was levitating a few inches off of the ground, his eyes closed, and his face scrunched up in concentration. The winds circled him, forming a very personal and very weak typhoon around him. It wasn't much, but I was still very impressed, especially given how little control he had when he first started training.

Precision over explosive burst. It was what I had been impressing on all of them, but on Zina and Oliver in particular. The pair were the two with the most raw, destructive, potential out of all of the other members of the Vanguard. I may not have much experience with their particular abilities, but I had a little know-how with destructive power.

I chuckled to myself as I let my eyes drift to the next trainee.

I leaned forward, squinting slightly as I peered towards the back of Zina. The daughter of Bia seemed to be in a deep trance as she held something in the palm of her hand. I noticed how she was practically drenched in sweat, and I couldn't help but admire her dedication to exploring the depths of her abilities. She had always been the first to arrive and last to leave the training grounds, always coming up with a new method to expand her control of her abilities. Which is why I was completely shocked when I saw the leaf in her hand.

The leaf was green, practically humming energy as it slowly lost the fresh sap from where it had been separated from its tree. The transition took a few seconds, but it seemed to last for minutes. The greens dulled before giving way to brown before the softness gave way to a rough exterior before the vibrant leaf crumbled into nothingness.

Her abilities were the most intimidating of everyone here by far. It was exacerbated by the lack of information on what she could truly achieve as her mother was one of the more seclusive gods, more so when it came to her half-blood children.

I had turned to both Chiron and Pelagios while we were still in camp, to learn more about the goddess. It turns out that even the gods had little information on the goddess or her two siblings. It was just known that they were as loyal as they were powerful, which afforded them their secretive lifestyles.

In many ways, I saw myself as similar to Zina. We were both wildcards based off of how much destruction we could create, yet while I stood out like a light in the darkness, she melded with it like a shadow.

The sound of arguing infiltrated the peaceful ambience, tearing me away from my thoughts.

In the time it took me to space out, it seemed as if Zina had done something to annoy Tassos, who was marching towards her while yelling.

"How dare you even think about destroying the trees! You never know if there's a nature spirit in one of them!"

Oh, that's what she did.

"Actually, I do know. I can sense energy signals, whatever I'm drawing energy from or target, I make sure it's inanimate."

Tassos seemed stumped for a moment, his mind seemed crossed between carrying on his argument purely out of a stubborn sense of pride or conceding. Zina stood firmly, her head tilting to the side as she stared at the son of Demeter curiously. There was merit in that stare after all. During the first week of training, I had everyone list their abilities and how they worked so that we could avoid unnecessary conflict or injuries.

Tassos' eyes narrowed before he raised his hands, two roots springing up from the ground and shooting towards Zina.

Yet here we were with unnecessary conflict, regardless.

Before anyone else could react, Zina simply raised her hand. The roots crumbled into dust before the daughter of Bia, who quickly fell to one knee. As she huffed in exhaustion, Tassos began closing the distance between the two, the earth trembling slightly as another root began to worm its way to the surface to obey his commands.

I scanned the clearing for a moment, relief washing through my body as I saw Shaquille lying on a branch of a tree a few feet off the ground.

"Shaquille, put Tassos to sleep!"

I called as I pushed myself off of my tree.

"Huh?" the son of Hypnos responded, raising one of his hands which hung from the tree into a salute, "Yes boss!"

Tassos unceremoniously fell to the floor and the trembling ceased instantly, a small stake of wood barely protruding from the floor a few feet away from Zina.

"Are you okay?" I asked Zina as I stopped in front of her.

"Yeah, I'm just not used to storing that much energy at once. It feels like I'm burning up inside, not too badly right now, but I just wasn't expecting it."

I nodded, taking a mental note. So, there was a downside to the power.

"Alright, can you exert some of the power? Not in one big blast like in the trials, but a small steady stream so you can stop releasing the energy whenever the burning stops. It should help you get a better understanding of exactly where your current limit is."

She nodded slightly, grunting as she tried to rise to her feet, failing and falling back to one knee. I had the feeling she was in far greater pain than she was letting on.

I sighed, placing my hand on her shoulder, and gently pushing her down.

"Take it easy. Save the brave façade for another moment, right now I just need you to let everything go."

She grunted but gave a slight nod. Allowing herself to be lowered until I let go, letting her sit down on her own.

She took a deep breath, pointing towards a tree.

I released a low whistle as I saw it. No wonder Tassos got so furious. It was, emphasis on was, a large tree, but there was literally a chunk of it just missing, just a bit off-centre and to the left. Before I could appreciate the decimation of the tree anymore, a small burst of white light began to stream towards the tree.

Shaquille, Oliver, and I watched in amazement as the light began to sizzle its way into the tree, boring a hole a few inches to the right of the missing crater and into the centre. Just as it seemed like it was going to go all the way through, the beam stopped.

I turned back to Zina, who was panting next to me.

"Are you good? You want to go find one of the Apollo kids?"

She just shook her head, pushing herself to her feet.

"I can still do a little bit more."

I stared at her for a moment, silently assessing her.

I frowned slightly when I realized she wasn't going to back down this time, shaking my head as I turned towards the son of Hypnos.

"Wake him up please."

The son of Hypnos muttered something, turning his head away from us before offering a side salute and drifting back to sleep.

Tassos groaned as he slowly began to push himself up. As he managed to prop himself up on his elbows, finally getting his limbs back in order and shifting into a sitting position, I was upon him.

"So, did you have fun attacking your comrade?"

His eyes darted to me. He shivered as I sent him a wolf stare.

"It was just… the tree!" He turned pointing to it before his eyes widened in further shock. He turned back to Zina, rage filling his body once again.

"You!"

"Ah ah ah!" I interjected, stepping between him and Zina.

"I'm taking full responsibility, so I'm going to need you to direct all of that anger onto me, okay?"

He faltered, his eyes darting between the tree and me.

"Oh, and the last time, I just asked Shaquille to put you to sleep to stop anyone getting hurt unnecessarily." I stooped so that I was at his eye level, "Because one time is just a mistake, right?"

His eyes finally fixed on me as I slowly drew nearer to him.

"But when you let a mistake continue, it could become a nasty little habit, and we don't want that do we?" I stood over him, peering into his eyes as he sat on the floor, fear evident in his eyes as he nodded.

I placed my hand on his arm, pulling him onto his feet.

"Well now that that's over!" I patted him on the shoulder.

"If she says that she can sense that there is no nymph in the tree, what's the problem?"

"It… It's still nature, it shouldn't be destroyed for nothing!"

I paused, placing my hand on my chin sarcastically.

"Well, I'd hardly say it's for nothing. I mean if you rather her practice her powers on you…"

Tassos quickly shook his head, taking a quick step back.

"I'm glad we agree. Well, how about this, when she destroys a tree, you use your powers to make another one to replace it. That way you both get to train, and you can keep your green pride intact."

The younger boy shifted sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head as he realized that there was a much simpler solution. He gave a small smile, before offering Zina an apology and agreeing to the idea.

I turned to Zina who gave me a small smile.

I returned the smile, clapping my hands as I began to walk past Tassos back towards the camp. I paused as I stood beside the boy.

"If you ever attack one of our own again, you'll find out first-hand, just how relentless the wrath of the sea truly is…"

I walked away from the shivering son of Demeter, breaking the treeline, and turning once again to observe the demigods.

I shook my head. I guess demigods inherited a lot more from their parents than we realized.

"Hey Percy…"

It took all of my restraint to keep myself composed as I swivelled to the source of the voice.

"Ah, yes Chrysilla?"

I turned back to watch the demigods, taking the time to let my heart rate return to normal.

A few moments passed in silence, and I glanced back to the daughter of Athena to see her staring at the ground as she shifted nervously. A small smile tugged at my lips. It was rare to see a child of Athena without a bundle of confidence… or had I only taken notice of the confident ones before…

"Okay," she locked her eyes with mine, a determined edge to them as she finished her internal debate, "I am upset with the way things are going right now."

In her effort to force the words out, they resounded throughout the quiet forest. I quickly looked back to the others, amazed that her words hadn't made it to them.

I turned once more to face her, stepping away from the tree line and leading her away from the group of training demigods.

"It's okay, we can talk. I just want to give you a bit more privacy is all." I assured her as I noticed that she was a few steps behind me. I paused, letting her fall into step with me before I continued to walk, idly, through the forest.

She offered me a small smile before her eyes dropped to the floor as she began twiddling her thumbs together. Before long, the silence got the better of her.

"I just kind of expected everyone to be on the same page, you know," I grunted in agreement at that statement. She seemed surprised for a moment, before she perked up, walking with a little more confidence after gaining some approval. "Aside from the fact that we're clearly divided between those of us who recognize the threat of this lifestyle for what it is and those who have some misguided confidence from being stuck in camp for so long."

I stopped walking, turning to face her as she stopped as well, her hands becoming animated as she let out her pent-up emotions.

"I thought that this would be my moment. My one chance to be something more than just another camper, you know. It was always Annabeth this, or Annabeth that! She got everything I wanted in life, and it made me furious for a long time. I used to be so jealous of her. With this group though, all of that was supposed to change! I was supposed to be the one to stand at your side… as the main strategist of course, but everyone just ignores me every time I try to speak up if you or Adrian or Marc aren't around. I don't want to be stuck on the sidelines anymore, I want to prove my worth too!"

I continued to lean against a tree, watching her stoically as I let her catch her breath. She finally caught her breath and her cheeks flushed red as the silence drew on. Her grey eyes flickered away from me as her hand moved to pull a few stray strands of her black locks from her face and behind her ear.

"I'm sorry about that, I was just really frustrated."

I felt the surprise contort my face before it gave way to laughter.

"That was you letting your frustration out? Honestly, I'm more used to people coming to me to vent their frustrations with their weapons! I can't quite say that I'm upset at this change."

Her flushed cheeks deepened as she reached for the hilt of her sword at her waist.

"I could run you through with my sword too, if you'd like!"

I chuckled, stepping towards her, and pressing my hand on top of hers, pushing the sword back into the sheath.

"No, you can't."

I patted her hand twice, smirking at the way she froze from my contact, before turning back to the path I had chosen.

"You can't prove yourself in peace, by the way."

I offered as I heard loose, discarded leaves crunch under her feet as she sped up to catch my stride once more.

"In many ways, we are aiming to become a warband. It'll be hard to gain the acknowledgement you're looking for while we're outside of battle. Even in camp, you gained it through the games of 'Capture the Flag' or showing off your abilities in the arena. Those things still have weight here, yes, but a lot less weight than what I would have for everything that I've done, or what Marc has done in the wars, and Adrian was part of the three who fought Clarisse to a stalemate, alongside being close to and accepted by both Marc and I."

"I can still offer so much outside of that though! I shouldn't need to kill Titans or face hordes of monsters to have their respect!"

"Maybe if that wasn't exactly the threat that's to be faced out here."

She paused at that as I smiled softly at her.

"They could at least try to be more helpful…." She muttered.

"You just have to be patient for now. A few weeks ago, no matter how rough and physical things were in camp, they were pampered. Food on demand, a bed to sleep in, showers, weapons, no constant threat of monsters, and a whole smithery waiting to fix things if they went overboard or even the armoury where they could replace weapons and, most importantly, siblings and Chiron they could rely on to talk about anything. Now life is all about the next monster attack or training session. Just because you were totally ready for this new chapter of your life, doesn't mean that they are. Just like you said."

Her eyes were glued to the floor once again. She slowly looked up to me, trying her best to hide the heat in her gaze. It seems she at least has the stubbornness of her siblings. She turned, about to head back to the campsite.

I sighed to myself, I thought I left Annabeth in camp.

"You're being awfully emotional for a daughter of Athena."

She swivelled on her feet; her glare fully blown now.

"And you're being awfully calculating for a son of Poseidon!"

"My long-gone half-brother Theseus would beg to differ."

"Urgh!"

I watched her turn and stomp back down the path we took with a wry smile on my face.

"Is this how Chiron felt with me? If so, I'm really sorry Chiron!" I muttered to myself as I shook my head before slowly following her back down the path.

A few minutes later, rustling in the trees above me brought me out of my thoughts. Suddenly, Cassandra fell out of the tree and right into my hands, which I didn't even realize I had held out in a position to catch her. The girl let loose a giggle, slightly tinted with madness, she wriggled around until she could crawl up and just sit on my shoulders.

"Out of everyone, your powers always amaze me the most," I called up as I continued to walk forward.

"Can we go on a mission, Percy?" She hung tightly to my hair, dropping her face in front of mine so that she could stare into my eyes, stopping me in my tracks.

She giggled again.

"You have a funny upside-down face!" I smiled at her before grabbing her and flipping her over me so that she stood in front of me.

"Better?"

She nodded with a huge smile.

"So, what's this about a mission?"

"My mom said that I need to get something for her." She said proudly.

I grunted in acknowledgement as I let my mind fully register the information. I can't say that I didn't expect some gods to ask for something, but I also couldn't say that I expected Tyche to be the one to jump at the chance of using our group to get something done.

"What does she want you to get?"

"One of her sacred corn… u… co… pias she said."

I smiled as she struggled slightly to say the word.

"Cornucopias," I supplied, earning a big nod and a smile.

I was about to tell her that I'd happily accept the mission when I saw Chrysilla standing with her arms folded a few meters in front of me.

"Well, it looks like you'll be getting your chance sooner than I thought. A god has a request for us."

She stared back at me in shock for a few moments earning a giggle from the daughter of Tyche at my side.

"Is she mocking one of your fish friends, Percy?"

I chuckled at the innocent joke from Cassandra, my laughter only growing at seeing Chrysilla's infuriated expression as I continued to walk past her.

"This way damsel, the camp is back this way."

"I wasn't lost!"

My laughter turned into a smirk as I saw her hurriedly slip into step beside me, facing the trees to hide her blush.

"Sure, you weren't."

We quickly made it back to camp, with Cassandra teasing the daughter of Athena a little more causing her to stomp away from us, and to her tent, the moment we were back.

"Everyone, gather around the Hearth!"

I called, taking my seat as Cassandra darted onto my lap, swinging her feet as she smiled brightly at the other members of the Vanguard who trickled towards the Hearth.

It took a few minutes, but everyone finally shuffled to their wooden seats around the fire.

"Alright everyone, we've just received our first mission from a god!"

I paused, letting the murmurs and excited conversations build up for a few moments.

"Okay, we're going to need to know a lot more than that, Percy," Marc stated bluntly once the chatter began to die down.

Adrian looked at him blankly.

"Wow, really? I thought we gathered here to figure out when Christmas was!"

"We don't celebrate Christmas, we're Greeks!"

Adrian put his head in his palm at Marc's reply while I laughed.

"Does that mean we don't get presents?" Cassandra asked me with puppy eyes.

"We definitely will be giving presents, right Marc?"

The son of Ares hastily nodded as I gave him my best glare. A small round of laughter broke my attention from Marc. I let my gaze relax as I turned back to the rest of the group, who stared at me eagerly.

"You see, Cassandra here got a message from her mother asking her to retrieve something for her, and I figured that it would be a good time and incentive to move out as a group."

"Finally!" I heard but couldn't quite place who said it. I rolled my eyes and was about to continue when Adrian spoke up.

"Now, Cassie," Adrian started, his pause as he waited for the girl's attention to fall on him only serving to build the tension, "What exactly did Lady Tyche tell you?"

"Um… we need to get… co… corn…"

"We need to get corn?"

Some snickers burst out from the group, and my gaze turned to the two daughters of Hermes. I couldn't make out which one had said it, but a small group around them were laughing at Cassandra's expense.

I felt her tense up slightly as she tugged at my arm in embarrassment. I leaned forward, ready to defend Cassandra, when I felt a sudden rush of power behind me.

"Don't worry sweetie, Mommy will explain for you."

Shocked glances trailed behind me as I let my own eyes follow their gazes to find Tyche herself before us.

Cassandra darted off of me and towards her mother, giving me enough freedom to drop to one knee before the goddess, glancing around to ensure that everyone else had done the same.

"Please, Percy, there is no need for you to bow to me." I nodded, still slightly shocked that the goddess had just boldly appeared as though there were no consequences.

"Rise, demigods." Her voice was noticeably harsher when she spoke to the rest of the group.

"By chance, Percy. Is there somewhere where we can talk in private?"

I could tell that the rest of the group wanted to argue, but Tyche increased the amount of power she was emitting, her eyes flickering to the group harshly before settling back on me with a soft gaze.

I quickly nodded, leading the goddess to the command tent.

"I apologize for having to be so forceful, but what I have to say involves things for your ears only."

Tyche offered as we entered the tent. I stayed silent, opting to remain standing as the goddess walked around the tent, drinking in the room. Cassandra, who was still in her mother's arms whispered something to her mother. The two had a quiet conversation for a few minutes before the little girl fell asleep in her mother's arms.

I stared at the interaction in silence. It wasn't often that most demigods got to see their godly parents, so I let the pair have their moment in peace.

"I must admit Percy," the goddess began as she summoned a rocking chair beneath her, carefully sitting down before swaying gently with her daughter in her arms, "allowing our kids to be claimed and have their own spaces in camp had already earned you the favour of the minor gods; but creating this group with so many of our children in it was so unexpected!"

She paused, shifting Cassandra lightly as she moved her daughter's hair from brushing against her nose.

"And to think after all that, you aren't just blindly rushing around the country to kill monsters like most groups before you have done, as most of the gods assumed you would do! You are actually training the demigods and getting them stronger before you act! Honestly, I just wanted her to join the group so it would be easier for me to take her and give her a much better life in the mortal world. There is something about the way you're operating that makes me feel as though there isn't anywhere better for my daughter to be."

I gave an unsure smile. The gods truly were eccentric beings. What happened to the ancient laws being particularly strict with the gods' children?

"I'm not sure I follow, my lady."

She smiled softly at me before summoning a simple wooden chair before her, gesturing for me to take a seat. I quickly obliged the goddess.

"There is a lot of history behind the borders of that camp. Under those borders, demigods are safe, but at the price of many watchful eyes that plot their destinies for them. Because the gods watch over you all so intently, it makes sneaking a visit so much harder, especially for the minor gods, moreso before, when we didn't have our own cabins, than now. But with your little group being outside of the border, I can more freely see my little girl and talk to her!"

I stared at her blankly as I began to process the information.

"That only raises more questions…" I replied sheepishly as the goddess smiled softly at me, raising a hand to brush off my concerns.

"That aside, I should probably let you know the mission I have for my daughter; I was going to call it a quest, but she insisted it was a mission, saying it was cooler and how could I refuse her with her cute little eyes?"

I sighed at the lack of a direct response, before settling on letting it go. I would find out whenever the gods decided it was the right time.

"Tell me about it." I offered, sharing a small laugh with the goddess. A moment later we fell into a relaxed silence. Tyche gently stroked Cassandra's hair, humming soft nothings into her ear as I leaned back into my chair, idly playing with the ring on my finger.

"There used to be a demigod, nearly two hundred years ago, who had created a group like yours." I perked up as the soft voice of the goddess filled the tent once more, "His group had gained a lot of traction and the gods began to believe that it could be done. So, they began showering them with gifts, hoping it would keep them alive. Of course, that group didn't have any children of the minor gods, but there was a child of Hephaestus who had caught my attention. I had given him one of my cornucopias when they were faced with great famine, and he kept it protected well even after he left the group."

I sat stoically; this was the first time anyone had shared stories from the previous groups. Despite the morbidity of it, it was still much better than simply hearing that it was a terrible idea to mimic those before us.

"Of course, he survived, seeing as he literally had lady luck on his side. He was blessed with many mortal years, which allowed him to grow old before he wandered into Hades' realm. He had passed on the horn as a family heirloom to his children, but my attention shifted away the moment he had passed." The goddess looked down mournfully.

"There is great power in that particular cornucopia, and it was only because they were demigods, especially with my eyes on them, that the power did not attract many monsters, but his children were conceived with a mortal. And the power from the cornucopia drew monsters to them, leading to their death and the theft of my cornucopia. Originally, I was going to sire a child and lead them to defeat the monsters and return the cornucopia to me, but the monsters retreated into the underworld with it."

Tyche paused as Cassandra shifted in her sleep. The goddess watched her daughter carefully for a few moments until she was sure that she hadn't awakened the young girl.

"I have been waiting for the time that they would emerge with it, as Hades refused to let me storm Tartarus, 'to protect me' or whatever. And it seems as though luck is on my side because, not only have they emerged when I have my child, but also when she is in the company of arguably the most powerful demigod in history, and almost certainly the most powerful in this generation."

The goddess began to giggle to herself at her joke. I stared at her for a moment before my eyes fell on Cassandra.

The idea that demigods were spawned specifically to run errands and entertain the gods, while not new to me, still irked me to no end. The only positive in this case was that Cassandra's mother was Tyche, who seemed to truly care about her, and those she looked after.

The goddess smiled gently at me, as though she had read my thoughts.

I quickly composed myself, letting my mind go blank.

"The last I've seen of the monsters they were on Staten Island. You may need to track them down from this location but be prepared. I know you can defeat monsters, but just as you grow more powerful, when organized and in groups, so do they. There are many things beyond those borders that remain unknown to you demigods. I wish you the best of luck when you begin to unravel these mysteries." The goddess gave me a wink before handing me a small piece of paper with the location of the monsters.

She then woke her daughter up, beginning to say her goodbyes as the little girl complained about her leaving already.

"How is it that you are here so long?" I questioned, gaining the goddess' attention from her daughter, "What about the ancient Laws?"

"You have so much to discover, but worry not once you are away from camp, just as the monsters have freedom beyond that barrier, so do the gods. Just as liberating it is for you demigods, it can be as damning, however. Remember this."

I nodded to the goddess, heeding her warning well.

"As long as you will not incur the wrath of any particular being," I hinted pointedly, amusing the goddess of luck, "I see no problem with you spending more time with your daughter, as long as she isn't late for training."

The goddess chuckled as I gave a slight bow and began walking out of the tent.

"This is why many of the gods admire you."

I smiled, leaving the goddess to spend some time with her daughter.

Today took a much bigger twist than I expected. I had a lot of information to process, and I had to figure out a plan for how to face the many unpredictable threats and now, help Cassandra get her mother's cornucopia.

Tyche had mentioned that the group had been blessed by the gods and that the son of Hephaestus, with her blessing had lived to grow old and die, even had a family of his own. Yet there were no records of any group surviving…

I snapped my fingers as I remembered that Chiron had once said that Artemis would wait for the group to be on the brink of decimation before swooping in and 'mercy' killing the males and taking in the remaining females or sending them back to camp.

Maybe it wasn't beyond the other gods to pick at the remaining demigods they liked and leave the rest to die. I shivered at that thought. It made me feel as though we were nothing more than prey waiting to be feasted on by the monsters with the gods eagerly awaiting our demise like scavengers…

I felt a chill run down my spine.

Whether it was true or not, it was only an indication that things were going to get a whole lot worse before they got better. It also made me far less confident in my ability to keep everyone alive.

I spat on the ground.

I'd just have to train myself and the group harder. I didn't want anyone to die. How much death would be considered a failure and have the other gods begin to swoop in and tear us apart to pick and choose the broken demigods left to do their bidding if we were unlucky enough to be beseeched by one of the less peace-oriented deities….

It was a horrid train of thought, but there was something in the faces of all that had warned me before leaving camp that did little to dissuade me from such notions.

I shook my head, clearing my thoughts.

This was my group. I would bear the burden of caring for them, training them to defend themselves, and leading them. This wasn't either of the camps, this is the Vanguard.

If all else fails, I would be the one standing between even the gods and the group.

A/N: The first taste of action is finally upon us! This is a huge disclaimer moving forward, please remember that this story is rated M. I didn't choose that rating for no reason, please keep that in mind as we keep moving forward.

That being said, I'm so excited to see what you all think about this chapter and how you'll all respond to the next one. I've read all of the reviews and I just want to reinforce that this first book is already completed, and being edited for each upload date. The plot is set, but I appreciate all of the ideas you all have. I'll be looking to see how I can integrate them because they'll all add so much depth to the story.

Last note, to those reading on Fanfiction, Would you all prefer if I respond to your reviews in private or to have a small section in the chapter after? Or is this format okay enough? I just want you all to know that I'm reading them all and I'm willing to hear more from you all.

I hope you're all having a great day whenever you're reading this. See you all next time!
-ZedricSOZ