Prologue: Beginnings

Table of Contents North America 2020

Alexis moved quietly, like the shadows that clung to her, from tree to tree, tree to building, building to rubble. In the nine years since The Event that ended the flame of the west humanity became nothing more than a snack for monsters everywhere. The Demigods of Camps Jupiter and Half-Blood built floating cities and evacuated the remainder of humanity, and the Gods, onto the seas where Gaea could not reach them. The engineer designed them and fought against the nature spirits of frost that sought to stop the Greeks from launcher their ship.

He fell.

The Romans used their engineers to create a floating island, rescuing more humans, and their families, but putting themselves at more risk. But they were doing well. The remainder of the humans on the mainland, The Lost, hid among the remaining continents. Alexis, cared nothing for them. She stayed on the mainland because she was an anomaly. Third generation, both Greek and Roman. Despite the peace that came when the seven found each other the two sides still did not like to work with each other, and so still communicated, still helped, but did not seek to combine forces.

All because of the Traitor.

The identity of the traitor that caused the Argo II to fall from the sky into the waiting hands of the Giants was now known. the Wise One and the Warrior fell the Leader lead the rest to Camp Half-Blood, the Giants destroyed Olympus. All Titans were weakened, all Gods were weakened - including Gaea. That is why we are all still alive.

The sound of rocks falling brought Alexis out of her reverie. The shadows bent, allowing her to look around the corner without being noticed. She saw a group of humans being lead by a red headed boy carrying a bronze scythe. He was swinging it back and forth, keeping a set of hell hounds and a cyclopes at bay. It wasn't her problem, she needed to find food, and a safe resting place. She couldn’t worry about saving humans. She had a mission of her own.

Oh Gods damn it all.

Alexis reached into the shadows and brought out her imperial gold gloves, Fluctus (waves) and Fulmus (lightning). They covered her entire forearms with a switch on the index finger of each glove allowed her to stiffen the gloves in whatever position she had them in before switching the glove. She reached in again and pulled out a black blade that seemed to suck in the darkness, Umbra (shadows), and a bronze blade that glowed red, Bellum (war). She then slipped the two blades into their sheaths hanging on her back, stiffened the gloves with her fingers set in a claw, and climbed up the side of the building. The hell hounds were closing in while the Cyclops laughed and mocked the humans hiding behind the boy. It looked like a small family of six, three adults and three kids. Once she reached the right height she focused and flipped the switch on the gloves, allowing her to move her fingers. Then she pushed off and drew her blades.

She started a roll and set her blades so that they slammed into the back of the cyclops, and as she slid down they dragged down its body, slowing her fall. He roared in pain, then agony and fear as he was sucked down into Umbra. Two of the hell hounds rounded on her in surprise while the third leaped towards the boy. To his credit, he did flinch.  He tossed a blue orb of energy at one of the hounds facing her and slashed at the jaw of the jumper, causing it to burst into golden dust that scattered in all directions. The blue energy hit the hound and it stopped moving. Completely. Alexis didn’t question her good fortune, she twirled Bellum, which glowed brighter, and swung Umbra halfheartedly at the remaining hound. As expected it dodged, jumping backwards. Straight at the boy who proceeded to slice it up the middle. Alexis smiled wickedly, put her blades away, and walked to the last hound. When she stood in front of it she stiffened her fingers, flipped the switch, and brought her hand forward with all her might. Electricity skittered along Fulmus as it slammed into the hell hounds head and caused the monster to burst into gold dust.

“Than - “ The boy started, but Alexis interrupted.

“I don’t care who you are, the Romans are sending a scouting parties to scrounge for food and supplies every other day. Head to the pier and they can come by to pick you up.” Then she turned to go.

“Wait, whats your name?” He asked.

“It doesn't matter what my name is, this is the only time I am coming to help you.” As soon as she finished saying that she found she could not move. There were gasps behind her, and she tried to turn to see what it was the humans were gasping at. Still could not move. Then her body lifted a little and spun to face the boy again. His eyes. They glowed a soft golden light.

<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; white-space: pre-wrap; ">“Interesting...I did not think one like you could survive. And yet...this is a good omen. Tell me girl,” the voice was cold, distant. It made her afraid, and Alexis did NOT become afraid easily. “Do you wish to stop this?” The golden eyed boy asked.

<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; white-space: pre-wrap; ">“Of course,” she responded, glad she could still talk. “But that is impossible, the lord of time was defeated and scattered to the depths of Tartarus the year before the end of the world.”

<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; white-space: pre-wrap; ">“True enough, true enough, I was. But when my mother defeated my children, we all felt it. Turns out we all are attached to the original damnable mountain. My father felt it, and he is literally brain dead. With everyone weakened my children sought out what help they could. The age of the gods has passed. The age of the Giants has come. With this...age, if you can call it such, nothing advances, nothing changes. Humanity, what provides us with the measuring of an age, is nearly destroyed. So I ask again, do you want to change it?”

<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; white-space: pre-wrap; ">“Yes.” Simple enough to answer that question. The boy smiled.

<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; white-space: pre-wrap; ">“Good. I am going to work my touch on you. Your... lets call it past self, will remember certain bits from you learn now, and this will allow you to work to prevent this age from coming. The spell will affect you, and my son here. My backup plan. It disgusts me to think i have to save my upstart children, but between you and me, they are much better than my mother.” The golden eyes focused on Alexis, and that was all she could see. They burned her, and the pain built, and built, until it was almost unbearable. Then it stopped, and her feet hit the ground, and she continued the few steps she had started before Kronos stopped her. She stood.

<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; white-space: pre-wrap; ">“What just happened?” The boy asked. Then blinked. “Never mind, got it. Think we should stick together?” He asked. She shook my head, then ran off to think.

<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; white-space: pre-wrap; ">The rest of the day...it was uneventful. She shadowed the odd group to the pier where she found out the boy was called Shamus McCallin. He was a runner, someone from one of the camps who volunteered to travel the wildlands that were what used to be civilized nations, and tried to find Humans who wanted to live in the relative peace of the floating islands. The Leader sent them to try and find out what the plans of the enemies were, and to rescue the remaining humans. The Romans didn’t like him very much at all. He didn’t appear to care, and when he finished the drop off, he turned around and headed back into the city.

<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; white-space: pre-wrap; ">Alexis shrugged and turned around. The building she was in used to be a skyscraper. Now it was another dessicated corpse of what used to be a representative of advancement. The room she was staying in tonight was what used to be a bank vault, with the door only oped with a code entered into the electrical panel outside, or by the twist lock on the inside. It was a common place for her to spend the night. Monsters couldn't get in through the walls, they were lined with imperial gold on the inside, which prevented anything from getting in. She closed the door and reached into the shadows, pulling out the pillow and blanket she stored there. With her sleeping place secured. She went to sleep.

<p style="text-align: center; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; "><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; white-space: pre-wrap; ">New York, 2011

<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; white-space: pre-wrap; ">Alexis stretched as she got out of bed. A glance at the clock told her it was 8:30 am. She was late for school! She ran to the shower and washed quickly, grabbed a poptart for breakfast and ran to the door. Her faster father, George Ironwood, called for her to stop, but she was already out the front door when he was yelling. Something felt weird about today, her dream of the post apocalyptic thing with Greeks and Romans running around was just weird. She slid out of the front door of the apartment building and her feeling of unease increased.

<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; white-space: pre-wrap; ">Through the streets, the parks, the sidewalk, people were sleeping. Cars were pulled over with the drivers passed out. Nobody was moving. She was starting to freak out when she heard alot of people moving towards her. Laughing about something funny. She started to move towards them to find out what was going on when a car went flying out of a side street and landed in central park. She figured it would be a better idea to hide.

<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; white-space: pre-wrap; ">Ever since she was little Alexis had known that when she ran into shadows, and wanted to hide, nobody could find her. Ever. She jumped into the closest alley, hiding behind a trash can, and as soon as she got behind the trash can she saw them. Blue giants, big black dogs, snake women, and boys in bronze armor were marching up the street. Interspersed among them was weird women with animal legs or metallic legs, or both. At the head of the color was a blond boy with glowing golden eyes. Something tugged at her memory about the glowing eyes, but she was too scared to move.

<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; white-space: pre-wrap; ">After a few minutes they passed and the sounds of fighting came to her. George snuck around the corner with a bronze axe in one hand, and a bronze sword in the other.

<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; white-space: pre-wrap; ">“Alexis?” he called softly. “I know your here girl, we have to get moving.” I stood up and cautiously approached him.

<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; white-space: pre-wrap; ">“What. The. Hell. Is. Going. On?” I asked him very quietly.

<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; white-space: pre-wrap; ">“The long and short of it kid,” he always called her kid when he was nervous. “Is that those Greek gods you learned about exist, they still have kids, and those kids are trained here at the long Island Shore and...never mind about that. The point is that you are related to the Gods, your parents asked me to watch over you until you were ready, or until you became 18 and wouldn't be attacked by monsters. I am getting you out of here and over to camp.” He handed her the sword, which she took silently, still thinking. Her mind kept coming back to her dream. She knew it was important. She looked at the sword and recognized it. Bellum... She looked at George.

<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; white-space: pre-wrap; ">“Take me to this camp.” She said.

Chapter 1