Just a heads up for those that have already read my version of Riordan's "The Son of Neptune"...there will be a few minor tweaks in this new story. I have finally decided on a name for the Roman camp...the "Hadrian Military Academy". Also, going from this point forward I will be referring to the Roman demigods as "Cadets" as opposed to "Campers". And for those reading either of my two stories for the first time...this is the sequel of the aforementioned SoN story I wrote last year. To fully understand the characters and story you will need to go back and read the first story (please bear with me on my earliest chapters...my grammar and writing will improve over the duration of the story).

And lastly, as is required, this is a work of fiction based off the best-selling series by Rick Riordan "Percy Jackson and the Olympians", as well as second series "The Heroes of Olympus". I do not own the rights to any of these characters. They are the sole property of their creating author Rick Riordan.

Prologue

The sound of old hinges swinging inward, drowned out the noise Annabeth made while quickly scribbling down the name and phone number she had just managed to track down. Pausing, only to briefly lift her eyes, Annabeth watched as her friend Piper McLean slipped inside the Big House's cozy little office. The way the daughter of Aphrodite, dressed in her usual orange t-shirt, faded jeans and hiking boots, carried herself combined with the irritation shining out from behind her eyes, forced Annabeth to glance downward.

The computer's clock display read forty-five minutes past nine in the morning.

Annabeth quickly closed her eyes and inwardly sighed, "The knife lesson…"

Piper, hyper observant as usual, recognized the chastened look suffusing Annabeth's expression, and grinned.

"You're late," commented Piper. "Again."

Annabeth, opening her eyes, nodded, "Sorry, Piper."

"So what brought about this latest bout of forgetfulness?"

A slight grin crept up one corner of Annabeth's mouth as she beckoned Piper forward, "Take a look at this."

The curious young woman skirted the desk to stand next to the seated daughter of Athena. On the screen was a Spanish news site.

Piper squinted her eyes and mumbled aloud the unfamiliar words.

La Prensa

"Autoridades Suspender Busqueda de Tres Adolescentes Desaparecidos"

Without taking her eyes off the screen, Puper asked, "What am I looking at exactly?"

Annabeth blinked, "Oh. Sorry."

The anxious daughter of Athena rapidly entered a command, and the words were instantly translated into English.

"There," said Annabeth. "Does that help?"

She watched as Piper, whom unlike most demigods, effortlessly read over the now transformed headline.

"Authorities suspend search for three missing teens," Piper paused, and glanced over at her.

"Keep reading," encouraged, the anxious daughter of Athena.

"The investigation into the disappearance of the three American teenagers…Peter Johnson, Rita Barrows, and Jen Hastings, has been called off after nearly two months. The three teens disappeared while the Parcae, the cruise ship they were traveling aboard, was again being examined following its encounter with a mysterious quick-developing thunderstorm in the Eastern-Pacific. The three teenagers' vanishing also coincides with the disappearance of a local PCA agent, Brencis Boden. As of now the search for Mr. Boden is still ongoing. He is currently a suspect in both a number of other disappearances and the fire bombing of a local dock…" Piper stopped and sighed, "Annabeth."

Annabeth hesitated. She had seen that strained, almost pitying, look on her friends' faces before, and each time the expression had proven well founded. The small reminder of her past failures was enough to force her to avert her gaze. Methodically, the mentally taxed daughter of Athena, glanced out at the bronze plated walls of Chiron's office. Her vision would then glided over Chiron's framed Party Pony t-shirts, followed closely by his collection of cassette tapes resting alongside her friend's old boom-box, and lastly she scanned the plethora of snapshots the old centaur had taken over the decades.

Naturally her tired eyes would always settle on the photo of Percy and herself, locked arm-in-arm. In fact it was that very image that had set her search on its present course. Every time she saw that glossy caption, Annabeth couldn't help but remember all of the experiences the two of them had shared since his arrival to Camp Half-Blood, nearly five years ago.

Unconsciously the daughter of Athena fumbled over the clay beads that represented the years since that day.

First, was the Trident and the quest for the Masterbolt. Second, came saving Grover and the recovery of the Golden Fleece. Annabeth, like always, suppressed a shiver while recalling the third year and being trapped between the Earth and the Sky, by her old friend Luke. Continuing on, the mental highlight reel churned out images of Percy's fourth year at camp. It was an especially difficult chain of events to relive because it was the first time Percy had gone missing. Before that span of time she had never stopped to realize how close she and Seaweed-Brain had become.

Suddenly a combination of anger and jealously raced across Annabeth's conscious mind, "Percy, you had better not be living it up with Calypso on Ogygia again."

Piper, standing patiently, shifted her weight from one foot to the other. The slight movement was enough to draw Annabeth out of her inner stroll down memory lane.

Her thoughts now back to the here and now, the daughter of Athena, for the umpteenth time, began to explain her thought process.

"So," started Annabeth. "Given Percy's track-record there's a good chance that if Hera had indeed placed him in Jason's camp; it wouldn't be long before some major act of destruction made world news…"

"Yes," admitted Piper, "but this sounds a lot like an article you looked into last month."

"It is," agreed Annabeth. "This is actually a follow-up article, but there is a major difference."

Piper raised her right eyebrow, "And what's that?"

"They finally released the name of the ship, and that's what I've been doing for most of the last hour. I've been running down the travel agency used to book the missing kids' tickets."

Piper, still skeptical but also exuding a measure of enthusiasm, asked, "So did you find anything?"

Annabeth, instead of answering, handed Piper the notepad she had been writing on when the daughter of Aphrodite first walked in the door.

"Who's...John Marco," questioned Piper. "And why do you have his phone number?"

"He's the park ranger that purchased Percy's ticket."

More than a little impressed Piper pressed, "How did you get it?"

Grinning proudly, Annabeth answered, "I've been randomly calling San Francisco travelagencies and pretending to be a close cousin of Peter Johnson."

Piper just stared at her, disbelief evident.

"You'd be surprised what people are willing to do or say in order to get a sobbing, grief stricken, teenage girl off the phone," said Annabeth, coyly.

"Well then," began Piper "it sounds like you could use a charm-speaker."

Now, Annabeth was the skeptical one, "You can do that over the phone?"

Piper smiled, "Only one way to find out; besides it seems my knife instructor is a bit too preoccupied to teach me today."

The two girls shared a moment of quiet understanding, before Piper handed the notepad back to Annabeth.

Picking up the office's phone, Annabeth dialed Ranger Marco's number. After a few short rings, a young man's voice rang out from the speaker.

"Hello?"

Rather than respond, Annabeth stopped to consider her options. All her instincts screamed that she had finally found what she was looking for. That on the other end of the line was a man that could lead her to Percy. Now all she had to do was ask, but the question was how.

"Hello," repeated the man, presumably John.

Annabeth's impatience made the decision for her, "I need to speak to Percy Jackson."

John's reply was a long time in coming, "I'm sorry, Miss..."

Before Annabeth could reply; Mitchell, one of Piper's half-brothers, burst into the room shouting, "Piper, Here you are! Come quick!" He took a deep gasp of air before continuing, "It's Jason!"

Naturally, and without stopping to consider the voice on the other end of the phone line, the two girls sprinted out of the door.

With the receiver dangling and spinning just above the floor, John called out, "Who are you? What's going on? Where's Jason Grace?"

Gwen, her godly senses rousing her ahead of the coming dawn, stretched while lying beneath her covers. A huge smile spread across her lips as she thought about the previous night's events.

It had been just another evening meal following an intense training session, at least until she, or Hazel rather, had finally maneuvered Percy into asking her out for her birthday next week.

Of course she hadn't liked her mischievous friend's suggestion, and had repeatedly refused to go along with it. But in spite of the number of unofficial dates the two of them had gone on over the last two months, a wall of apprehension always seemed to stand between them. So reluctantly, she had finally consented to her friend's suggestion, hoping that the act of directly asking her out would do something to finally bring down the invisible barrier.

The plan was simple, Gwen thought, as she remembered the coversation:

"Hazel, we've discussed this already. I don't want to coerce him."

Of course Hazel had instantly responded by saying, "It's not coercion. All I want to do is privately remind him of your upcoming birthday, and how much you would like to spend New Years touring San Francisco together." Hazel had smiled then, "And afterwards, if Percy decides to finally grow a spine and ask you out…so be it."

The daughter of Apollo had hesitated then. Hazel was making sense; although she didn't like the fact her friend had so openly mocked Percy's courage.

Seeing her uncertainty Hazel, ever the aggressor, pushed forward, "Look Gwen, I'm not just going to sit back and watch the two of you mope around again."

She had closed her eyes then; recalling the day Hazel was alluding too.

"Remembering Valentine's Day?" queried the sandy-haired daughter of Ceres.

That questioned had elicited a glare from her, and Hazel drew back on the reigns, slightly.

"Look I get it, really I do," her friend assured. "And if you don't want me to say anything…I won't."

"I know you wouldn't," Gwen had replied.

"So," urged Hazel. "Will you allow me to do the two of you this little favor?"

That simple question had stopped her cold. The two of them quietly stood on the forested path back from the archery range, as their trainees slowly filed passed, both waiting for her answer. The gentle sound of trees swaying beneath the wind and the chill fresh scent of the early spring air steadied Gwen while her heart waged war with itself.

A newly arrived presence suddenly intruded upon her thoughts.

From one corner of her cozy little room an increasingly familiar voice echoed softly, "Gwendolyn? Sweetheart, are you awake?"

Gwen hid her smile. Her Dad had made it a habit recently to drop by before going to work. Even more surprising, he had become increasingly polite. Always making sure that he asked if she was awake, and giving her time to acclimate to his unexpected arrivals.

Slowly sitting up and affecting a scowl, Gwen asked, "What are you doing here? And why are you wearing armor?"

Apollo, wearing a resplendent set of golden catafracta mail complete with matching greaves, stood with a quiver full of enchanted arrows strung over his shoulders. In his right hand he held a mighty golden longbow, and tucked beneath his left arm was an older style cassis, also made of gold. Though impressive, Gwen's inborn conservative nature blanched at the garish sight.

Apollo's normally brilliant smile was obviously strained, and his reply wasn't immediate.

"Jupiter's orders," the sun god replied.

Gwen crossed her arms and pressed, "The visit, or the armor?"

Apollo leaned back against the wall and sighed, visibly releasing some pent up anxiety. Propping up his bow, her Father, his hand now free, reached up and removed his sunglasses.

"Both actually." Closing his eyes, Apollo sighed one more time and added, "He wanted me to tell you…'It's time'. The prophecy you received during your run in with Cassandra shall soon come to pass, and you are the only one that can stop it."

Gwen's brow shot up, "Why me?"

"Because you're the only one that can find the Fountain's source…the only one that can lead this quest."

Gwen tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear whispered, "The Fountain's source? But that means traveling to the Underworld."

Apollo grimaced, "I know."

"How am I supposed to…"

"Talk to Percy," interrupted the sun god. "I'm sure he can recommend a useful means of travel."

Gwen, not trusting her own voice, just nodded.

"Also you'll need the weapon of Hercules to complete this mission."

"The weapon of…Hercules," stammered Gwen. "Can you be a bit more...specific?"

Apollo shook his head, "I'm sorry, Gwendolyn, but I can't."

Anger, born mostly of fear, forced Gwen to demand, "Can't or won't?"

Apollo looked away, "I've been warned, Gwen. I broke the rules once already. If Jupiter catches me a second time I will, for the remainder of this war at least, be cast into Erebus. Then I wouldn't be able to help anyone."

"That's not fair," cried Gwen.

Apollo turned to her, this time truly smiling, "Maybe, but it doesn't the change the fact that Jupiter can't afford to risk any further insubordination." Her father picked up his bow and walked over and sat upon the bed, "The stakes are simply to high, Gwen."

A tear rolled down her cheek as her father's voice spoke, for the first, her preferred name, "I understand."

Apollo leaned over, and kissed her on the forehead, "That's my girl." He gave her shoulder a little squeeze, "You can do this. I know you can."

At that moment a wolf's howl erupted, instantaneously dispelling the predawn calm of the Academy. An emergency officer's meeting had just been called, and there would be no allowance for tardiness, not for this type of meeting.

"I've got to go," spoke Gwen.

Apollo nodded, "Of course; me too."

Gwen, her Father rising, said, "Dad, be careful."

He just smiled in response, before adding, another bit of advice, "And Gwen."

"Yes?"

"Under no circumstances is Percy allowed on this quest. He's the Academy's Praetor now, and he needs to start acting the part."

"He's not going to like that."

Apollo just shook his head, "That's Percy, alright, but it doesn't change the facts of the situation."

At that moment dawn crept over the horizon, and her Father vanished.

Before rising to get dressed, Gwen sent up a silent prayer to her father, "Stay safe."

And in the quiet of the now lonely bedroom two soft words drifted through the still air, "You too."

Reviews and PMs are always welcome.