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If you pay careful attention as you're speeding along a particular road on Long Island, you will notice things.
You will notice the thick, heavy atmosphere that can mean nothing of good. You will notice the broken fence alongside a small section of the road, now overgrown with weeds, looking like it has been trampled long ago. If you are to stop your car, allowing curiosity to get the better of you, the broken section of fence shall be exactly where your legs will carry you.
Up a hill and through a forest that you know very little of. You will regard the bloodstains scarring the hill and everything on it with interest, heeding the odd assortment of weapons scattered; some beneath rocks, others in trees, or even partly concealed by dirt. If you are to walk a little further, you will near a pine tree. Draped within the branches of this pine tree will be a large golden fleece; The very same Golden Fleece you are no doubt familiar with.
Guarding this fleece is a large copper scaled dragon. Unbeknownst to you, he goes by the name of Peleus. If you are to make it past Peleus, you will find yourself overlooking a camp. This is no ordinary camp. This camp has witnessed a great battle, a terrible war, marking imprints upon every fibre of grass, every tree, every cabin, and leaving blood stains and destruction as a reminder. This camp is no ordinary camp. This camp is a camp for demigods; children of the gods. And say, the only way you will have made it to Camp Half Blood- for that is what the camp is called, is if you yourself are a child of an Olympian.
Now, worlds will be united once more, and this camp will not be the only one affected. Wizards and Demigods alike shall find themselves whisked into such complete and utter disarray that it will change their perspective on everything.
This camp has been through so much, and little do you know is that it's about to go through so much more.
Welcome to Camp Half Blood.
You're probably going to die.
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Percy wandered through camp, humming happily to himself. His eyes skimmed across the crowd of campers, searching for the all too familiar mop of curly blonde hair belonging to his girlfriend. His gaze landed on her almost immediately. She lit up at the sight of him and began to make her way towards him.
"Percy!" she shouted, causing a few people to turn in her direction.
Smiling, Percy pushed through a group of gossiping daughters of Aphrodite. Mumbling apologies, he chose to ignore the death glares they were shooting him.
"Annabeth!" Percy exclaimed, as he finally reached her.
"Where have you been? I've been looking everywhere!" Annabeth scolded, slapping Percy playfully.
Looking sheepish, he scratched the back of his neck, trying to think of a suitable answer. His train of thought was interrupted as the sound of the conch horn could be heard, signalling the beginning of the campfire.
"Uh, it's not important, I'll tell you later," he said quickly.
Percy had in fact been investigating monster attacks near London for his dad, but he wasn't about to tell Annabeth that as he wasn't supposed to leave camp so soon after the war with Gaia.
Although Gaia had been defeated only a few days ago, the attacks were still as frequent as ever, but the ones near London were happening in some sort of pattern. With Gaia gone, things had been undoubtedly much easier, but her armies were still alive and had spread out, thus the reason Percy had been in London.
"Come on, let's go!" he shouted dragging Annabeth with him.
"Seaweed Brain...." Annabeth mumbled under her breath. From the tone of her voice, Percy knew that he would have to tell her sooner or later but for now, Annabeth let the matter rest as they entered the dining pavilion.
He gave her a cheerful wave, before making his way to the empty Poseidon table. He chose to serve himself with a stack of blue pancakes, drenched in syrup and cornflakes, the odd combination proving to be quite pleasing.
Even though it was dinner, he felt like breakfast and he chose to ignore the disgusted looks Clarisse was throwing him and his food.
Making sure to show off his plate of pancakes to the children of Ares, he walked towards the bonfire, and as he had done during each and every meal since he was twelve, slid a small portion of his meal into the fire.
He hoped the gods would enjoy burned cornflakes.
Percy walked back towards his table and dumped his plate on the bench, sitting down very ungracefully.
Upon his request, his glass filled itself with blue Pepsi, the bubbles making soft fizzing noises. He gingerly lifted his fork and prodded his pancake. Shrugging, he dug into his meal, savouring the taste of the sweet cornflakes.
In less then five minutes, he had demolished most of his dinner. The corners of his mouths were tinted blue with syrup and Pepsi. Oblivious to this, Percy shovelled down another bite.
"Percy!"
He choked on a cornflake, in surprise and turned his head to see who had caused what could have possibly been a cornflake catastrophe. A grin broke out on his face as he laid eyes on the culprit. He stood up just in time to be enveloped in a bone crushing hug.
Tyson was his half brother, on his dad's side. He was a cyclops and a very talented one at that. His skill was part of the reason he was never at camp. He had hardly seen Tyson the past few days as he had been busy working in the forges and preparing to head to Camp Jupiter.
Tyson, along with Rachel and Ella had been planning on leaving a few days after the Romans after discarding their original plans to leave at the same time. He still wasn't quite so sure why they would be able to leave camp alone, considering they were no longer travelling with Reyna and her company.
Since the voice of Delphi had been extinguished, Rachel hadn't been able to speak any prophecies. Their only hope was to try and reconstruct the Sibylline books. As for the forges, Tyson had refused to tell Percy what he was working on, all he knew was that it was something important as Tyson had only appeared occasionally to discuss things with Rachel. He hoped that Tyson turning up so unexpectedly meant that he would finally get some answers.
"Tyson!" Percy choked out. "Can't brea-the." His brother let go. "Sorry," he mumbled as he clumsily dropped his food onto the table and sat down. "Is good to see Percy again!" he exclaimed half heartedly. His previous grin was now gone, replaced with a sullen look.
Percy studied his brother with a frown and sat back down again next to him.
"What's gotten into you, lately?" Percy asked. "Last time you were here, you didn't even come to see me."
He wondered what had caused the sudden mood change. Usually, Tyson would have been more than ecstatic to be with his brother.
After another moment of awkward silence, Tyson spoke out of the blue. "I'm helping Daddy build weapons."
Percy, caught by surprise at Tyson's comment, fell off the bench. He ignored the sniggers from the campers at the Ares table and quickly sat up.
"What, why?"
"Daddy won't tell me." He paused and then his eye lit up. "Maybe he would tell Percy."
Percy resisted the urge to throw in a sarcastic comment as he doubted he would be able to contact his father again so soon. He had only spoken to him that morning and Poseidon had warned Percy that he might not see him again for a while. Thinking back to earlier in the day, Percy remembered how distant his dad had been.
"I don't think so."
"Please, brother. Then we will blow up enemies together!"
Percy tried to mask his confusion. The only enemies left were the remains of Gaia's army and a few stray monsters, here and there, across the world. And of course the monsters in London, which Percy had under control. What weapons could Poseidon possibly be building?
"Tyson, I won't be able to."
Tyson's smile faded and Percy felt a pang of guilt.
"Oh." Tyson said looking defeated. He turned back to his food and began to eat at a slower pace, looking even sadder then before, if that was possible. Any demigod watching would have known something was up.
Percy felt awful. If there was anything that could crush him, it was watching his brother look so upset. The defeated slump in his shoulders and the saddened look in his eye only made Percy feel worse.
After a moments hesitation, he sighed, finally giving in. "Alright, fine, I'll try."
An enormous grin took over Tyson's face. "Yay! Brother will help!" His childish demeanour had returned just like that. He gave Percy a small pat on the back before spooning a forkful of something that looked disturbingly like cow dung into his mouth.
Percy frowned, bewildered at Tyson's odd behaviour. He glanced towards Annabeth who looked up towards him almost as if she had sensed his thoughts.
His gaze met hers and he excused himself and headed towards the Athena table.
"Ready to tell me where you were today?" Annabeth asked as he arrived.
"What? I haven't seen you in ages, you should be happy that we are finally reunited. No hug? No kiss?"
Annabeth snorted. "Your sense of humour never ceases to amaze me."
Percy grumbled something about how girls are supposed to be excited when they see their boyfriend.
"I saw you ten minutes ago! It's not like we've been apart for long!"
Percy tried to divert her attention. "I spoke to Tyson before," he lowered his voice. "My dad's building weapons."
Annabeth frowned. "It's probably just a precaution," she said confidently, although Percy could practically hear the gears turning in her head, trying to figure out what to do with that information. "And quit trying to change the topic," she added.
"Then why did Tyson seem so...what's the word?"
"Disgruntled? Gloomy? Despairi-"
"Yeh, that," Percy interrupted. Annabeth's child of Athena was showing.
She sighed. "He's moving camps, Percy. He's probably just nervous."
"Yeh, probably," Percy said even though he didn't think that was the case. The troubled look in Annabeth's stormy grey eyes told him neither did she.
"So where have you been today?" Annabeth said, bringing back her previous question.
"Uh, I was with Nico," Percy lied.
"No you weren't," Will Solace said as he walked past them towards the Apollo table. "I was."
Annabeth gave Percy a pointed look. Percy huffed, exasperated. "Are you not even going to ask him why he was with Nico?"
"Why would I? They're friends."
"Since when?"
"Does it matter?"
"Yes, it does!"
"Would you just tell me where you were today?"
At this point, he probably should have just come clean, but he had disobeyed orders, and not only left camp, but left the country. He had his father to thank for transportation. Gods could be pretty helpful when they wanted to be.
"I was trying to contact my dad!" He blurted. It wasn't entirely a lie. He did contact his dad, and he was telling Annabeth the truth, just not all of it.
"Why?"
"For answers. I wanted to know what was going on up on Olympus, with Apollo and the whole oracle thing."
"What did he tell you?"
"Not much, I'm going to try and speak to him again, I promised Tyson I would..."
She nodded. "Let me know if you find out anything important."
"Of course," he said, leaning in for a quick kiss. "I'd better go now." Percy gave her a smile and set off towards the beach. He said he'd contact his father, and despite his doubts, he would do exactly that. He made his way to the waters edge and sat down in the sand, the brilliant rays of the sun almost blinding him.
"Yolo," he mumbled under his breath. Might as well give it a go. He concentrated as hard as he could.
Dad.
No answer.
He tried again.
Still no answer.
Please, I really need to talk to you. Answer me.
His attempts at conversation were useless.
"Stupid gods," he grumbled. Percy called out to his father, once again without success.
For the most part things were silent. Nothing out of the ordinary. The waves continued to crash against the shore, he could see the nymphs in the river from his position. Faintly, he could hear the sounds of the campers still eating at the dining pavilion.
Did he really expect his father to answer? Gods were busy, they didn't always have time for their children. Percy cursed and grabbed the nearest rock. He threw it out into the ocean and watched as it skipped across the water before vanishing from sight. He sighed and lay down so his back was against the beach. The shore was wet and the water washed over him,
soaking his clothes, and he let it. The damp sand clung to his clothes and feet, but Percy for one, didn't care.
Forgetting about the harpies that would probably kill him in his sleep if they found him, he closed his eyes and relaxed as a wave of tiredness overcame him. He didn't plan on falling asleep but he succumbed to the shadows anyway. As usual, sleep was rewarded with dreams and not the good kind. Demigod dreams.
Percy was surrounded in darkness. Slowly as his eyes began to adjust, he found himself no longer in the dark but in a dimly lit room. From what he could see, it was made entirely of stone. In the centre was a glowing pedestal. As Percy got closer, he realised it was not the pedestal that was glowing, but what was on it. An open book lay upon it, and was what seemed to be the source of light.
Percy carefully approached the pedestal and moved his hand to touch the book. He instantly withdrew his arm and cursed at the slight pain from contact.
"Stupid," he muttered as he inspected his hand. Red hot burn marks decorated his skin. Percy watched with awe as they slowly disappeared.
Intrigued, he stepped closer but kept his hands well away from the cursed book this time. He peered over and stared at the first page. There were only four words. The first was a name that Percy didn't recognise.
Harry Potter
With a jolt, he realised the second was his own name.
Perseus Jackson
Before he could process anything the scene shifted to one that was all too familiar. Tartarus.
Panic washed over Percy and he felt sick. He studied the scene in front of him.
Unlike the other dream, this one was blurry, like a bad Skype call connection, something he'd only used once. The first dream, had been crystal clear and had cut off too soon but this one was like nothing he had experienced before. It was almost as if someone had recorded a TV program very badly. The speaking seemed to be off and Percy would have thought it rather funny to hear large brutes talking with raspy feminine voices if not for the location.
Monsters of all shapes and sizes trudged about, they would glitch every so often, giving Percy the impression of a failed panorama.
Percy recognised Kelly, an empousai, who was busy criticising one of her cheerleader friends. A few gloomy titans and telekhines were also among the crowd, to name but a few.
But it was not any of these monsters that stood out to Percy, after all he had seen and killed them many times before.
Standing a few metres away, a scary looking thing that he assumed was a man was staring directly at him. His skin was a ghostly white and he had no nose. The 'man' was dressed in dark robes and his eyes were bloodshot. Percy stared back at him, unable to look away. It was only when 'it' blinked that he turned away. The mutation of a man gave him the creeps.
He turned his attention to the monsters in front of him. They were discussing battle plans. Even though they couldn't see him, he crept up behind them so he could listen in.
"-Kronos is trying to break free again. Part of his soul has already escaped through the doors when they were open. He seeks revenge on the Jackson boy. We need to escape with him and prove our loyalty once again!" A monster bellowed, seconds later morphing into a three headed pig dragon as the dream glitched yet again.
The others chorused their agreement although it looked more like they were attempting face swap.
"The doors of death are already unstable. Gaia may have failed but Kronos shall not."
"He's already failed. Like twice." A very unhelpful and stupid telekhine imputed. An empousai wasted no time in stabbing it right thought the chest.
The scene began to blur with the screams of the telekhine drowning out all other sounds.
Percy gasped as he sat upright. He brushed the sand from his hair and quickly stood up. A million things raced through his mind at once. It was giving him a headache. Something was off about the dream. It had been murky and hazy, quite the opposite to the beginning of the dream. It was almost as if someone had cut into it.
First, he had to talk to Annabeth, even if it meant telling her where he had been during the day and admitting he'd lied. Then he would tell Chiron.
He took off in a jog toward the Athena cabin, pondering the dream as he watched the lights from the campfire as he sped past. He wondered what could be so important that was occupying his dad. Was his absence related to his dream? Did the gods know about Kronos? Was that why Poseidon was building weapons? Question after question spun through his head.
Suddenly something crashed into him, knocking him over.
Percy groaned as he stood up and brushed himself off, all momentum now gone. He looked down and realised that it was Rachel who had almost killed him moments before. He thought Rachel would have been busy getting ready to leave.
"Percy!" Rachel cried frantically as she clambered up.
Even in the moonlight, Percy could sense something was wrong.
"Rac-" he was cut off as she grabbed his arm.
"We need to get to the Big House, now!"
"Wait, what, why?" Percy was confused and not for the first time that day.
"Gather the head counsellors, I have news."
"News....? Oh no. No, no, no."
"A new great prophecy."
"B-but, I thought-"
"Just hurry up!" Rachel exclaimed. She turned away and began to head off in the other direction.
"Wait!" Percy shouted and grabbed onto the hem of her shirt. Rachel stopped and turn to face him, looking impatient.
"The prophecy, does it have to do with Kronos?" he asked, dreading the answer.
Rachel frowned. "Kronos? What does he have to do with anything?"
"Uh, nothing, don't worry about it."
Giving him one last look, Rachel turned away again and sprinted off.
Maybe, Percy's dream was just a simple nightmare. He'd had a few of those lately, considering the circumstances, and after all, Kronos had been destroyed more than a year ago.
Deciding that it was best not to dwell on his dream, Percy shook himself out of his stupor and made a beeline for the closest cabin. For now, he needed to focus on the problem at hand.
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Welcome to the first chapter of Heroes of Hogwarts! Hope you're enjoying the story so far, and if you are– Don't be a silent reader. I love reading comments so don't be shy.
Until next time,
Steph :)
{cover belongs to me. anyone else using it has taken it without my consent.}