Prologue
"Troy!"
The coarse sound of my name tore through my concentration just as I released the arrow. I cursed at the sight of the arrow whizzing past the target before turning to find whoever had called for me. The warm heat of the sun fell upon my face, easing the tension in my shoulders slightly as tried my best to place a name to the approaching face.
"Dude, I can't believe you need to squint when your dad is literally the sun!"
I chuckled sheepishly as his name continued to evade me. Quickly schooling my expression, I slung my bow over my shoulder. "Not every child is as blessed as Will." I baulked slightly as he stepped closer to me and wrapped his arms around me in an embrace… I felt the embarrassment flush my cheeks at forgetting his name despite our, apparent, closeness.
"Unfortunately, this isn't a social visit, otherwise I would've waited until after you took your shot." I followed his eyes to where the arrow was burrowed into the protective wall behind the targets. Fighting the sneer at the mar on my, otherwise, perfect practice session, I turned back to the younger boy. "Will wants you at the hospital."
I hummed lightly as I scanned his face a bit more intensely. Acne riddled his cheeks and his hair was far too long for the shape of his face… Giving up on his name, I unslung my bow and moved to place it back on the rack. "Did he mention what he needed?"
"I just heard that other campers were looking for you." I turned to face him as the bow knocked against the others behind me. The boy looked around me questioningly but I brushed it off, unwilling to know if any had fallen off so that I wouldn't feel guilty about leaving them on the floor. "Figured it was important so I rushed here because I knew you'd be here."
I smiled warmly as he chuckled at my feigned ignorance. He followed me out of the archery range in a relatively comfortable silence before leaving with a hearty goodbye.
"Richard?" Shaking my head at the sound of the name, I sighed and began walking out of the training grounds and towards the budding city. Stumbling slightly, I cursed as I looked down at the offender. I sneered at the uneven floor which was an odd amalgamation of cobble and concrete. As much as the city had advanced in the last couple of years, the Athena and Hephaestus demigods had come together in their weird fascination of creating a new style of architecture…
"Makes for one Hades of an inconvenience…" I muttered as I trudged through the streets, my eyes trailing the ground more carefully to avoid another embarrassing trip.
"Did you hear the news?" I glanced up at the demigods walking past me. Their voice muddled together in a fury of excited responses that drowned out any information on what the news could be. Lost in contemplation of their words, I found that the floor had smoothened out into a sort of sandstone… or a sandy-coloured material at the very least. I looked up, trying to find the nearest street sign as I couldn't remember the floor leading to the hospital being this… like this?
"I can't believe that they-" I turned to my left to find that the demigods had already passed me. I scanned the area, exasperated at the sudden rumour that I was out of the loop of. My eyes caught sight of a couple sitting on a bench. They smiled and waved at me as they caught my eyes. I smiled back politely. I didn't need to jog my memory to recognize that pair. One night shift at the hospital had introduced me to them in a very awkward situation that I still keep secret to this day.
Something they had very much appreciated.
"Watch it, Troy!" I apologized as I swivelled my head in front of me once again. A burly man continued to grumble through my apologies as he hefted a massive slab of iron back over his shoulders. Stepping out of his way, I quickly crossed the street. If he was here, it meant that the Forge was close by and that the Hospital was somewhere across the street… At least, I hoped so.
Finally! A street sign caught my eye at the corner of the walkway. Hastening into a brisk walk, I squinted as I tried to make out the sign through the waft of smoke that-
"Did you hear anything yet?"
I clutched my chest as all the air in my body forced its way out of my lips. I felt my eyes, widened in shock fidgeting in their socket as I tried to find where the voice had come from. I caught sight of a very annoying face, laughing freely as my right hand braced my heaving body on the corner wall to my right.
"No," I replied snarkily to cut her laughter short, "I haven't heard anything yet." Before I had my fill of sneering at her, she grabbed my arm and began leading me back across the street I had just crossed.
"Brother Will sent me."
"bRotHer wILl sEnt Me…" I muttered mockingly under my breath at my sister's eccentric respect.
She looked back at me and rolled her eyes, though a smirk lingered on her face as she let me step into stride aside her. "Or rather he asked what was taking you so long and I figured you were lost again."
I sighed, rolling my eyes as her hand fell from my arm. We walked in comfortable silence as I struggled to put a name to the girl who was definitely my sister. My eyes shifted around as I noticed some strikingly familiar buildings and faces. Grimacing slightly, I realized that I was practically being led back to where I had come from.
"How'd you find me?" The words slipped from my lips to save myself from the embarrassment which pooled in my thoughts.
"I was wondering around, to be honest, kind of lucky to find you here, but you usually make the same wrong turn."
"It's not my fault that they redesign the city every month, never mind how often they relocate the hospital!" She nodded, turning with a warm and understanding smile that did little to rid my embarrassment. Suddenly my annoyance with her sparked again as I remembered how she had just scared me. She should know the kind of damage that can do to someone!
"You're right. I'll make some time to give you a proper tour of the city next week okay? I think most of the temporary buildings are done now so it's a good time to learn the basic layout properly."
I nodded gently, stifling my irritation at the warmth in her tone. My brows furrowed as I suddenly felt an odd sense of Deja Vu about this conversation. Before I had time to think more about it, we took a turn and found a crowd barring our way into the hospital. "It's that serious, huh?"
My sister… Tracy… Right, that's her name! Tracy nodded as she pulled me through the crowd and into the hospital. I shook my head, blinking a few times as a comforting sensation spread from my chest. I smiled at the effects of the healing songs which were echoing through the halls of the building as I felt myself being led by an arm again.
After what felt like a few minutes, I felt her hand leave my arm again. I didn't realize that my eyes had closed until the whites of the walls scorned my eyes.
"This is as far as I can go. I'll see you later, Troy!" I smiled at her, slightly less baffled at being embraced suddenly the second time. Tracy and I were close after all! I'm almost certain that I'm kind of correct about that…
Shaking my head, I slipped into the door.
I baulked as a wince audibly slipped past my lips as waves of powers slammed into me. The pressure in the room eased significantly as I composed myself.
"Good, you're here. Can you explain this?" I blinked a few times as I felt my voice stuck in my throat, my vision blurring as I swayed on my feet. "For the sake of our Father, Troy!"
A strong hand clasped my left shoulder and steadied me. A rush of energy swarmed my body as I gasped. Like being spiked with a shot of adrenaline, I felt alive again. My eyes scanned the room and information filled my brain freely.
"Um… Good hello esteemed leaders…" I made to bow until the saving hand crashed down on my head.
"How many times do I have to warn you about your excessive training?" I frowned at Will as I stepped away from him, clutching my head. He rolled his eyes at me before flicking his hand at me and walking towards Annabeth and Jason. My mind cleared as the pain subsided. Deciding against receiving the old whack heal tactic that became a recent trend in the Apollo district, I quickly followed my older brother to the single bed in the room.
I froze again as I caught sight of the patient before me. They were surrounded by an ever-rotating orb of water. I had seen my fair share of peculiar things as a doctor for demigods, but this was odd for the simple fact that there should be no one capable of this sort of…
"Did he fall into the Moat?"
"The Lady can't do that," Annabeth paused to point at the stationary, sloshing, rapids, "outside of the moat."
Jason nodded as I hummed. Will shifted to my side and nudged me towards the patient. "I'm sorry. I understand Annabeth being here for the brains, Jason for the Brawn and Will for the healing… I don't quite get how I could help if the three of you are stumped…"
Annabeth smiled gently and shook her head. "We don't need you in order to help the demigod. We need you because of that." Following her finger again, I noticed that there was something undisturbed by the swirling waves of water. Walking closer, I leaned on the edge of the bed. I instantly pulled my hand away as the top of it brushed the underside of the orb. I glanced at my hand and then the bed in fascination as I realized that neither was wet.
"Whenever you're finished…" I offered an apologetic smile to Will who shook his head at me, despite the mirth playing at his lips. Refocusing on the stillness in the waters, I saw a string of letters in Ancient Greek, dyed blue against the face of the orb.
"How did you guys even see this?" I whispered as I focused on the message.
'For Troy'
Suddenly everything clicked into place. The rumours, the crowd made sense, the orb of water.
Turning to the three leaders, I sat on the bed as the room became densely packed with power again. Smiling, with my arms raised, I peeked back at the orb behind me.
"Ah, I guess he's back."
Hello everyone and welcome to the new era of this series! This is the official prologue to the Vanguard which will be released officially at the end of this month.
If you're wondering why this has taken so long, it's because of the plot. I was ready to start writing this in March but I couldn't fall in love with the plot and I didn't want to rush into writing something that I wasn't proud of. I'm at a point where I'm very confident with the plot now and I'm in the beginning stages of writing again.
This series has been on my mind since the very first fanfiction I read and it means a lot to me that it comes out how I'm picturing it in my head. That may mean a bit of delays in between key story arcs but I should be much better with keeping you all updated on that.
That waffling aside, I do have things to plug-in from my time away. I am writing and planning a lot more than this fanfiction and, if you're interested in seeing that, you can check out my discord which will have links to everything in the coming weeks.
I'll be more frequent there with updates on delays or to answer questions and all of that. The link will be on my profile page.
Anyway, that's it for now. I hope you're having a great day whenever you're reading this,
ZedricSOZ