So… I'm back from the dead. How's it going?

To my long-lost readers,

I am deeply sorry for not writing this sooner and I know that I was probably forgotten after not updating for so long. Here is my excuse; I have been pre-occupied with a story that I plan to publish one day, but I am not giving up on this story.

Now, please enjoy.

Lumina

It had been a while since Lumina had ever seen the outside of the Roman camp. She didn't even know why her Legion leader wanted her to go out. Wasn't it dangerous? She walked past the city of the camp and tried to talk herself into the adventurous mood, but to no avail. Every step she took away from the border of the camp she felt the threat of mortality increase. Lumina couldn't move another step.

"You're a Roman," she said out loud, "act like one."

It was only to deliver a message, that's all. She was only delivering a message. However that thought didn't exactly encourage the fact she was leaving the camp's safety, didn't they all shoot the messenger? But why couldn't she take one last step to at least make it past the border and deliver the message to Lupa? Gaea was long defeated, or at least in deep sleep, she had nothing to worry about, the doors of death were sealed so monsters could be killed and stay dead, what could possibly happen? With a little more courage she straightened herself and pulled the message tube across her back. Then another thought struck her, why on Earth would they send a four-year-old to do this? Lupa was not exactly the friendliest she-wolf to visit. Sure, she liked her, but playing favorites wasn't her way. You came back you were wolf bait. At least that's what the older campers told her. This came back to the thought of why they were sending a four-year-old. Oh, that's right; everyone was a bit busy at the moment.

Back at camp a few hours ago it was like any other day, the forts were being prepped for the next war games, the purple banners around the Coliseum were being hung from their hooks, kids were training in the arena, swords were being hammered and forged, everything was as usual. That was until the lion was cut loose. The arena was immediately filled with screams of terror as a group was cornered by the giant cat. And it was a giant cat that was twice the size of a normal lion to be used for competition. The camp's fortune was being fiddled with recently, everything that could go wrong was going wrong, at first it was brushed off as petty pranks, but now it was something else entirely.

The Roman Camp was falling into bad luck.

Now it sounds unreasonable, but fortune was what kept the campers and the city alive. The Romans would not have lived to have third or fourth generations if not for the luck that had smiled on them for so long. Strong ancient magic sustained the fog going and continued to aid the concealment of the Romans, but lately it seemed to be growing weaker and weaker. The magic was what let them have security; a sanctuary.

Without further delay, Lumina had shook her head and continued forward, deeper into the forest, and made herself completely isolated. Silence followed with the breeze off of the ocean drifted through the trees. After what felt like an eternity, Lupa's call reached Lumina's ears. The howl lasted only ten seconds, but its effects lingered on. The small child's heart rate sped and her pupils dilated. Her vision opened to the wild and her senses amplified while one thought and one goal filled her head.

To find the wolf, you must use your gift.

Slowly the girl pulled out her fox token and she concentrated on Lupa and where she would be. An image started forming behind her eyes and she felt her feet move on their own. As if possessed by an unknown spirit, Lumina lifted the totem and watched in amazement as an aura surrounded her. Then she fell down to her knees, utterly exhausted. The last thing she saw before losing consciousness was a giant wolf.

Milo

Milo awoke suddenly and looked out of the moving truck's window a bit disorientated. For a moment he had to think of where he was, but soon realized he was in the backseat of his father's truck having fallen asleep out of impatience. He heard two voices in front of him and saw Annabeth and his father talking lightly about how her schooling was going. However curious he could be, Milo was not interested in the conversation, or rather was too concentrated on the strange dream that had him so engrossed.

Who was that girl?

The boy didn't know why he was so focused on the question, only that he needed to know. Just as he was about to voice his strange dream, Annabeth turned around and gave him a gaze that flustered him even more.

You'll find out, his conscious seemed to say. Milo frowned in confusion and looked back out the window when something caught his eye. Was that cloud in the shape of a fox? His view was interrupted by a large building when they ventured down one of many San Francisco hills and turned into a parking structure. Finding a spot, Milo's father parked and the party had exited the truck. Milo was still frowning in as deep in thought a four year-old mind could be. Annabeth had approached his side and smiled down to him with a concerned face. Aarrek had locked the vehicle and lead them to the exit. Milo sucked in a small breath as he looked around him when they exited.

He was down by the bay in San Francisco.

Milo had never seen the ocean so close before and it had shocked him at its energy and fascinated him for its fact of being an inconsistent raw force of nature. Aarrek smiled knowingly at his son and patted him on the head gently silently telling him to stay close. Though Milo had soon regretted his first breath of sea air, his excitement for seeing something so natural made up for his unaccustomed senses. Annabeth had taken the lead and showed the way around the bay area which happened to have a festival going on.

Hours past and Milo could not believe how much fun he was having. Finally he felt like the kid he was without the fear of nightmares that haunted him. Nothing strange had happened to him yet, and his father didn't make excuses to leave him for a little while like he did when something was amiss.

He finally felt luck was on his side.