Heroes: The New Level

This is the first fan fic story by DarkCyberWolf, who is seriously hoping it's good. Feel free to leave your comments at the end.

Chapters
This is a list of chapters currently available in Heroes: The New Level.

Chapter One: Tara. Some Weird Kid Fights Something

Chapter Two: Raymond. The Sun Gets In My Eyes, And Everywhere Else

Chapter Three: Eddie. A Wolf Leaves Me To Die

Chapter Four: Natalie. I Represent Something I Can't Pronounce

Chapter Five: Tara. You Know It's A Bad Sign When Death Claims You

Chapter Six: Raymond. And Here I Thought Zia Was Scary

Chapter Seven: Eddie. I Get My Own Deadly Weapon

Chapter Eight: Natalie. The Rain Court Has Bad Taste In Ambassadors

I Get My Own Deadly Weapon
A Roman chariot burst into the Wolf House with a young man inside. He had blonde hair, was wearing a Roman centuniculus, and carried a teddy bear with some stuffing leaking out.

"This is Octavian?" I asked.

"Yep," Dakota said. "Eddie, this's Octavian. Octavian, Eddie's one of us. Lupa brought him here."

"Actually, Lupa just told me what I was. The Erinyes outside, they're the ones who chased me here."

Octavian tensed. "Erinyes? How many?"

"Two - Megaera and Tisiphone."

"Good. We outnumber them, and Alecto is not among them. Eddie, if I gave you a weapon, do you think you could fight alongside Dakota and I?"

"What kind of weapon?"

Octavian tossed me a watch from inside the chariot. "Here. It's Imperial gold. Just set it."

I put the watch on my wrist and pressed the buttons on the side. Suddenly, the hands on the clock shot out and sharpened, becoming a pair of slowly revolving three-foot blades. "Amazing..." I muttered. "How does it work?"

Octavian shrugged. "Beats me - ask one of Minerva's kids or Vulcan's kids - they're the ones who made these things. Just fight."

I looked around. "Octavian, sneak around back. Dakota, open the door for the Erinyes."

They both looked at me like I was insane, but did as I instructed. When Dakota opened the door, the Erinyes immediately seemed confused. Just like I'd thought.

"His face bleeds, yet he smells nothing of blood," Megaera murmured.

While they were distracted, I spun my watch blades until they connected with Tisiphone's neck. She dissolved into ashes. When Megaera realized it was a trap, she turned to run.

"Now!" I called.

Octavian tossed his blade like a javelin, catching Megaera as she ran.

"The Merge strategist!" she shrieked as she dissolved.

"Did you make that up as you went along?" Octavian asked.

"No. When I came in here, I thought Dakota's face was covered in blood. I figured the Erinyes would think so too. Plus, when most people are outnumbered so badly, they turn and run, so it was best to have a man on the outside."

"Cool," Dakota said. "Think you might be a Minerva kid or somethin'."

"The Roman goddess of wisdom and battle strategy," Octavian explained. "Come, you've earned a place at the Legion of Camp Jupiter."

As Octavian drove Dakota and I in his chariot, I wondered why Octavian brought along a teddy bear. He didn't look that young, but I suppose he could be, if a watch could be a deadly weapon.

"Welcome to Camp Jupiter," Octavian said.

"Indeed, a voice said. "It is good that you have come, my son."

I whipped around to see a woman with brown hair and gray eyes, wearing some Roman outfit - I don't know what it's called - made of purple cloth.

"Lady Minerva," Octavian bowed respectfully.

"Goddess of wisdom and battle strategy," Dakota told me. "Among the greatest of the Roman gods."

"And mother of one of the most powerful demigods in existence. Eddie," Minerva completed.

The Rain Court Has Bad Taste In Ambassadors
Tlaloc brought me to the middle of a humid ground.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"Tamoanchan," Tlaloc said. "The origin of the Aztecs, made from sacrificed blood from Mictlan. Thus, it is where the gods keep our courts. Every set of gods rules from their own people's origins."

I vaguely remembered my mother mentioning Tamoanchan and Mictlan. The paradise where people came from, and the Aztec underworld.

"So why did you bring me here?"

"First of all, I must know why the Ahuizotl behaved the way it did, mentioning the Merge so casually. Also, there is the matter of the temple in Tenochtitlan. It is not supposed to be there. Somehow, it had been built right in my territory without my knowing. You, of course, are one of my representatives. Thus, you need training at the Rain Court."

"And that's where we're going?" I guessed.

"Exactly. You will meet the other Aztec representatives and begin your training. And before you ask, yes, Jocelyn knows about this."

A guy with black jeans and a Metallica T-shirt walked up to us. "Tlaloc, it is great to see you again," he said respectfully. "And... I'm guessing you're his new rep?"

"Natalie, yes. Natalie, this is Cam, representative of Huitzilopochtli and leader of the Tamoanchan students."

"Nice to meet you, Cam. So, where are the others?"

"In the Temple of Aztlan, underground. That's where you'll be headed while we experienced students do something about the new temple in Tenochtitlan."

"Alright, as Cam can take you to the others, I will return to the Rain Court to find out what I can as you begin your training."

"One last thing," I pled. "The Ahuizotl - what was the Merge it was talking about?"

Tlaloc paled. "With luck, it was simply trying to cause a fright."

Tlaloc vanished. Cam turned to me.

"Well, Natalie, we'd best get you to Tlaloc's other reps. I'm sure you'll get along great." Cam looked at the ground. "Abré!" he said in a booming voice. The ground opened up, revealing a torch-lit tunnel. Seeing my expression, Cam grinned. "Don't worry, Aztlan is much nicer on the inside."

Cam led me into the tunnel until we came upon a huge pyramid decorated with carvings of Aztec gods. "Welcome to the Temple of Aztlan, training center for the Aztec representatives," Cam said. "My favorite part of welcoming the new reps."

We continued inside until we got to a door with detailed, realistic paintings of storms and rivers. "This is the Tlaloc room. You and Tlaloc's other reps will be staying here. The head of the Tlaloc room is Simon, he'll show you around the rest of the way."

"How does someone get to be a head rep?" I asked.

"By default, it goes to the oldest, or the one who's been there the longest. But if someone else gets nominated, they have the chance to challenge the current head rep. Hopefully, it won't come to that - nominations and challenges are pretty rare."

He walked off - probably headed for the Huitzilopochtli room - and I opened the Tlaloc door.

"Hello," a voice said. "And you would be...?"

"Natalie Rain, new representative of Tlaloc, Aztec storm god."

"I know who Tlaloc is," he replied, amused. "I'm his head rep, Simon Garcia. Welcome to Aztlan."

The Future Probably Needs A Breath Mint
"So, another Big Three kid, right when we find out about something that freaks out even Chiron," Leo summarized. "This is something big."

Big Three kid? I mouthed to Nico.

Half-bloods whose dad is Hades, Poseidon, or Zeus, he told me.

"Yeah," Percy agreed, then avoided looking at Annabeth when he added "We should talk to the Oracle about it."

A furious twitch crossed Annabeth's face for a split second. "Nico, did the griffin say anything?"

Nico nodded. "Apart from the Merge it smelled two powerful demigods - me and Tara. But it said I was way less powerful and she was important to the Merge."

Annabeth shot a glance at Percy. "So Tara should be the one who sees the Oracle. Nobody else." Then she looked at me. "Nico and I will show you where she is."

Nico and Annabeth showed me to the Big House in the middle of the camp. We went up to the attic, where a redheaded girl around Annabeth's age sat there.

"Hey, Rachel," Nico said politely. "This is the new camper, my sister, Tara."

"Nice to meet you, Rachel," I said. Annabeth and Nico backed away, leaving Rachel and I alone. "I don't suppose you know anything about the Merge?"

Suddenly Rachel's eyes started glowing as she hovered a couple inches off the ground. Nasty green smoke billowed from her mouth as her voice tripled in the words,

"The power of eight shall merge into one,

The gods will fade should the Merge be done

Strength is formed by the power of eight

When the ninth who will lead them escapes from his fate

The deadliest creatures shall merge for the fight

As eight crossroads, in death, unite!"

Rachel's special effects came to an abrupt halt as she recovered. "Did you get all that, 'cause I still don't know how to get a prophecy done twice."

"Yeah, I got it. I'm new here, so... am I supposed to tell Nico and Annabeth and Percy and Chiron and everyone what you said?"

"Yep, and then Chiron will tell you the rest of what you need to do."

I went outside, where the other campers were waiting for my response. I recited the prophecy that Rachel gave me.

"The power of eight," Annabeth analyzed. "That seems to imply that the quest is supposed to have eight demigods in it."

"But not necessarily," Nico said. "It could mean eight enemies, like Kronos, Gaea, Enceladus, Atlas, Hyperion, Polyphemus, Thorn, and Khione. We should probably stick to three, just in case."

"So," Chiron turned to me. "Three demigods. Tara, you will lead this quest. Choose two of the other campers to participate with you."

I glanced around, but my answer was quick. "Nico and Annabeth."

"I'm in," Annabeth said. Nico showed his approval with a small nod.

"Alright, the three of you will be going to Camp Jupiter. The Greek and Roman camps have merged before - it should be easy to convince them to join with us in combating the Merge. Annabeth, you have been to Camp Jupiter before, so you can navigate," Chiron explained. "Be careful - the deadliest creatures shall merge for the fight does not sound remotely promising."

"Good luck," Percy said solemnly.

"You got it, Seaweed Brain," Nico said. When everyone else looked at him, he shrugged. "What? So Annabeth's the only one who can call him that?"

"Yes!" more than half the camp shouted.

"Fine. Whatever."

We left the camp's borders and started walking westward. "So where's Camp Jupiter?" I asked.

"San Francisco," Annabeth said.

"No, really." When she didn't respond, my eyes widened. "Seriously? We're going to walk from New York to San Francisco?"

"Not the whole way," Nico assured. "When we see monsters, we run on the way."