Percy sprinted with all of his might through the thickets of trees and bushes. His sleek, brown hair blew away from his face due to the gentle breeze of Camp Half-Blood's seemingly endless woods.

After a while, he stopped at a nearby tree, panting from his exhaustion. From the edge of his vision, he saw a blur of black in one of the bushes. Argh, not again, Percy thought exasperatedly and thrusted his hands in his pocket, his fingers tightening around Riptide.

"Hello, Percy. It has been a long time, eh?" A soft voice asked from behind. Percy instinctively jumped and whipped around, Riptide unsheathed and ready to strike, but he pulled away the moment he saw Nico emerge from the shadows. His Stygian iron sword was sheathed and buckled onto his belt. He also wore a complete black attire, which made him look slightly sinister.

"Oh...N-Nico," Percy stammered unintelligently, startled by the boy's sudden appearance, and fumbled his sword back into a pen and into his pocket.

Having noticed Percy's discomfort, Nico smiled faintly. "Are you out here because you wanted to escape all the noise in camp?"

Percy let out a laugh, "I guess you can say that," he replied, "Everything seems so...different, though. Nobody is out there to threaten us."

Nico tilted his head slightly, his expression passive. After a brief moment, he simply said, "Yeah...I guess so."

Percy studied Nico, noticing the dark circles around his eyes. He wondered if something was disturbing the younger boy.

"Well...I guess I'll talk to you later. I have to go clean out the Hades Cabin before inspection," Nico said.

He was already turning away when Percy reached out and tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey, is anything bothering you, Nico? If so, don't hesitate to get help"

Nico flashed him a tight grin. "No, of course not. Why would you say that?" he retorted swiftly. Percy could see that the young demigod was lying, but he decided to not call him out on it.

Percy grunted, acknowledging his comment. "I should go back to camp for dinner. Can I join you?" he asked.

Nico hesitated for a moment but then nodded stiffly. Nico spun around and walked towards camp without waiting for him. Percy sprinted to catch up to Nico and accompanied him back to camp in awkward silence. He occasionally glanced over at his friend and saw that his eyes were always wandering off into the distance as if he was in deep thought. When they reached camp, Percy murmured a farewell and padded off, puzzled by Nico's weird demeanor.

What's up with him?

Percy scanned the clearing, only to have locked gazes with a pair of stormy grey eyes. He grinned when he saw Annabeth standing at the other side of the clearing. She smiled back and gestured him to walk over.

Percy went to her and flung his arms around her. He watched her soft, blond curl fly over her shoulders and blowing with the wind. She looked absolutely lovely.

"Hey, Seaweed brain," she said, planting a small kiss on Percy's lips. She then took his arm and pulled him over to a bench away from the cabins and out of anybody's sight. He sat down on the bench next to her and enclosed her hands in his, staring out into the beautiful sunset. He enjoyed the warmth and joy of Camp Half-Blood.

It had been a year since the battle of Gaea. Since then, things have been the same old, same old. After a couple of months, he and Annabeth planned to move to Rome and live like any normal couple. Leaving his friends would be heartbreaking, but he would do anything for Annabeth. He loved her.

They sat there for a couple more minutes in easy conversation before getting interrupted by a loud voice.

"Hey Percy! Annabeth!"

Percy turned around and saw Leo, with his impish grin.

"Why isn't there any privacy in this camp?" Percy protested, trying to look angry.

Leo burst out laughing."It's okay, man... but seriously, you have to work on your angry face. You look constipated. Anyways, it's feast time!" and then he sprinted away from the scene.

"I'm offended," Percy muttered.

Annabeth giggled and pulled Percy by the arm, "Come on, Seaweed brain! Let's go eat."

---

After the toast to the gods, Percy sat down with his friends, eating steak and drinking blue soda. Everyone was laughing and having a good time. Percy had to save each moment he spent with his friends before he and Annabeth moved away. He had always hoped to have more peaceful life like this during the battle of Gaea. Unfortunately, hope was never in favor of fate for him.

Suddenly, there was a flash of light, and a silhouetted figure appeared in the midst of the feast. The figure stepped out its shadow, revealing his face. The voices of the demigods faded away into puzzled silence. Immediately, Percy felt the powerful aura radiating from the skin of the creature. A few people drew their weapons from the ultimate sense of danger.

Standing there was a guy with sleek and dark hair, wearing a dark blue suit; He was definitely not as intimidating as his aura. The weirdest thing about him were the white wings that unfurled behind him.

"I am Kratos, the god of all strength, power, and might," he said, his voice soft. Glancing at the demigods who had their weapons unsheathed, he flicked his wrist and the weapons dropped their hands.

"No need to attack, my heroes, I am merely here to help." Kratos announced, his eyes raking across camp, "Time is quite scarce, so I shall go straight to the point. I shall be concise about this. All forces are coming for you, demigods. Kronos has reformed and called upon revenge to all who had participated in mother Gaea's murder."

Kratos then turned to Percy, regarding him with narrowed eyes. "Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon. Kronos is after you again, for you have evaded his grip too many times." He said, "I suggest that you lead a quest to defeat Kronos immediately as he is still very weak. Kronos lies exactly west of this camp. We still need to defeat him with the strongest of the camp, and there is no doubt that the seven of the prophecy are to take this quest into there hands and end this madness once and for all."

"Wait!"

Percy pulled his attention away from the god to look at Jason. "If Kronos is so adamant to kill Percy, I see no point of him taking part of this quest. He is one of the strongest, yes, but he is too valuable to be used as a pawn to take down this Kronos. Why are you strongly implying that he has to go? Do you have a prophecy?"

Lightning flashed. Kratos regarded Jason with expressionless orbs. "Kronos is practicing some type of magic that blocks the visions of oracles. He has been stealing some oracles around the world to help him in his studies. I am here to inform you because I have witnessed Kronos's recent actions and heard such prophecies these oracles speak."

Then, lightning once again struck the ground, and Kratos was gone. The Demigods of the camp stared at the spot where he had disappeared in absolute silence.

Chiron finally turned to the anxious crowd. "Rachel," he called out.

Immediately, the red-haired girl pushed her way through the demigods and to the clearing, her face troubled.

"Have you received any information related to Kronos?"

Rachel tilted her head, her face scrunching up as if in deep thought. "I...yes I had-- a couple months ago-- I saw the seven in the prophecy standing on a cliff and staring off into the distance. But...I haven't seen anything else ever since," she murmured.

Chiron narrowed his eyes, "You saw the seven? Why didn't you say anything?" he asked.

"I didn't think it was a matter of importance because they weren't doing anything that seemed dangerous, and I had no other visions after that one. I just merely assumed that it meant that the seven would lead to normal lives," she replied. Murmurs immediately rumbled through the crowd.

Chiron sighed, shaking his head, "The situation is rather troubling. It was estimated that Kronos would reform a few centuries later, not a few years later. Rachel, if you have any more visions in the future, I want you to report them immediately. Please do not assume anything," he said.

Rachel nodded, her expression the one of shame. Chiron turned to Percy, his eyes dark.

"Well, Kratos had the say....although I do not approve. Percy must will lead a quest with the seven to fight Kronos."

"But then...where is Kronos?" Conner yelled from the crowd, a few murmured with agreement.

Chiron shook his head. "Kratos said west, but I'm afraid none of us knows the exact location."

Percy turned to his group of friends, who all stared back at him blankly. "I guess we have to do this, then,"

Notes

Chiron's Website- http://camphalfblood.wikia.com/wiki/Chiron
Annabeth's Web- http://camphalfblood.wikia.com/wiki/Annabeth_Chase
Nico's web- http://camphalfblood.wikia.com/wiki/Nico_di_Angelo
Percy's Web- http://camphalfblood.wikia.com/wiki/Percy_Jackson