A/N: This story is largely written because of my own disappointment with the Heroes of Olympus series. I mean, don't get me wrong; I highly doubt that I'd have been able to write such a monster of a series by myself. But the characters, the plot... everything seemed to go downhill after a certain point. The characters didn't get the development they deserved, and while the books were mainly focused on the plot, that didn't seem to get much development either. The ending of the series was disappointing, for books that had held so much potential. So I guess I wanted to write my own version. I don't think I'm arrogant enough to truly believe that I could do it better if I tried- I've given writing this story a shot before, and only managed to reach 20,000 words. But I wanted to give it a shot, for real this time. I want to begin a story that I can finish, that is good from start to end. So I decided to start with this.

But this is also a story that will have non-canonical pairings. The above definitely plays a part in it, but as I was planning out the story, I realized that I didn't want to follow the original romances (with the only certain exception being Percabeth). It's an AU; please don't expect the story to follow the original to a T. And if you don't like non-canon pairings, this story is surely not the one for you.

To end, I hope you guys enjoy, and stick around long enough for me to (hopefully) finish this. Thanks for looking, and R & R, please!

Disclaimer: I do not own the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, nor the Heroes of Olympus series. All of the aforementioned belong to Rick Riordan.

{1.}

He was leaving again.

Piper bit her lip against the onslaught of words fighting to come out of her mouth. The hand of her dad's new assistant was sweaty, and she tried not to squirm. The airport was loud and bustling, the floors shining from a freshly clean wax and the air smelling of scents she couldn't identify, people from all over the world. Her nose ran. The line at the gate was already crowded, moving slowly and filled with conversation and complaints.

It was stifling. Piper tried not to cry.

Her dad finally looked up from his ticket, and smiled at her. "Hey, Pipes, it's okay. I won't be gone long."

She nodded mutely. But you're always leaving, remained an unspoken sentence in her head.

He kneeled down to her level, and ruffled her hair. Her bangs fell in front of her eyes, and she was grateful for the cover it provided. At this distance, she could smell his cologne, familiar and nice. It made her want to cry all over again. "Be a good girl while I'm gone, okay? Do your homework, listen to-" He glanced at his assistant. "Sarah, and, well. I love you sweetheart, okay? I'll miss you."

Her mouth was dry, and she swallowed. "Okay."

He hugged her and kissed her forehead before standing up, waving over his shoulder as he walked away. Her skirt bunched up in her fist. Don't go, she wanted to shout. Don't leave her with a woman whose face resembled a clown with all it's makeup, don't leave her in a home with no one to run to, don't leave her alone.

Instead, she said nothing.

You're always leaving.

And I'm still here.

"Wakey, wakey, Pipey," someone said, and Piper blinked, because that voice didn't belong to this memory, or dream, or whatever it was-

She woke up, her eyes straining against the sunlight that gleamed through the blinds hanging in front of the windows, changing what was black to yellow. Piper had to resist the urge to groan, and she wiped a hand across her face. Drew stood beside her bed, a gloomy, tall presence silhouetted against the daybreak, that was, funnily enough (and not really funny at all) similar to a god, at least from her position. Piper had to blink again. She needed to remind herself that this was her reality now, at times. She had a feeling that that was something she'd be doing often. If she made it that far, anyway.

"There's a quest that I have to go for," Drew said. "And you're holding me back, Dumpster Queen."

As if I could forget, Piper wanted to say, but instead she said, "Morning,"; unlike Drew, Piper knew when to take the higher road, to be the better person. Or it might have been what she was convincing herself of, because the smugness in Drew's tone reminded of her days locked in schools with nowhere to go and insults and fists coming in from all sides, and that was a memory she'd rather like to forget.

Drew didn't reply, turning on her heel with a flash of her hair and a whiff of nutmeg-smelling perfume, the kind of thing that you'd smell at Christmas. Christmas, the holiday that was just around the corner which meant that Drew's ensemble wasn't as odd as it seemed. Piper's heart fell another few inches from the place where it'd already dropped. She should have been at home, but instead she was in a camp full of children of the gods. Then again, her dad wouldn't have been home either. And she would still be at the Wilderness School. But.

You're always leaving.

Suddenly, all Piper could see was a giant and flames, and she had to tell herself to get up. Normal teenagers didn't sit in their beds and stare at the wall in a scary kind of stillness, remember? She had to remember what made sense, 'cause nothing made sense, and at the moment, that was all she had.

Her toes curled at the first touch of the cold pink floor. She rolled her shoulders, her mind flashing back to the events of the past night. In chronological order: she'd woken up from the field day that Hera had had possessing her body; had headed down to the amphitheatre for sing-a-long time with marshmallows; heard two prophecies that spilled out trouble, and finally... she'd been claimed by Aphrodite, only for Drew to take her place on the quest. Except it'd never been hers in the first place, and that had been the cruelest reprimanding she could have gotten.

She'd needed that quest. She'd needed it so badly- no, her father was the one that needed it, and she was still here.

I'm still here.

Piper swallowed against the bile rising in her throat. Reminded herself that she had to move as well, lest she look like one of those statues the Grecians were known for.

Drew stood at a vanity in the corner of the room, resting her hand at the edge of it as she checked herself in the mirror, brushing her hair and checking her makeup. She lifted her head to catch Piper in the edge of the glass staring, and smirked. Quickly, Piper looked away, and forced her face to relax from its scowl with a deep breath.

After picking up the orange camp shirt and shorts that had been neatly folded and lying on her newly engraved chest, she made her way to the bathroom, clutching it in her arms. Unlike the rest of the cabin, the floor of the washroom was made of tiles, white and shining in the glare of the light that hung overhead. Piper leaned against the sink, reluctant to look in the mirror; but curiosity won, and she did.

She looked like a princess straight out of a fairytale.

Piper dragged a nail down her cheek, frowning. Her skin was smooth, and not dry like it usually was in the morning. Her finger hadn't disturbed whatever makeup rested on her cheek, and she sighed, dropping it. Quickly, Piper turned on the tap, doused her face in ice-cold water and wiped her face with a towel. The results were disappointing: nothing had come off on the towel, and her reflection remained the same. This time, Piper couldn't stop herself from scowling.

She changed out of her clothes, unable to resist staring at her skin. Did Aphrodite look like her? Resemble her daughter the slightest bit? She doubted it- a goddess of beauty, she'd probably look white, and drop-dead gorgeous and... not like Piper.

Still. She had better things to sulk about.

Outside the door, Drew was waiting. She casually slouched against the wall, arms crossed, poised. A backpack was strung across her shoulders, and she glanced at Piper coolly before straightening. "Listen up, Dumpster Queen," she began, her voice frosty. "I don't have a lot of time to talk, or introduce you to everyone-" Out of laziness rather than hastiness, Piper's mind supplied, "-but in my absence, Mitchell is the cabin counselor." She pointed a finger at a boy in the corner, rummaging under a bed for garbage. "You listen to him, although I doubt you two would have trouble getting along with each other anyways." She tapped the inside of her arm impatiently, and glanced at Piper again. "Got it?"

"I got it," Piper said, failing to hide her irritation.

"Good." Drew took a few steps, and paused. She turned to look back at Piper, her words only slightly less cold. "Look, sweetheart, you're new. I get it; it can be hard to get used to... this." Her lip curled in disdain, she gestured around with a hand. "All this godly stuff. But you're not any different from the others- you're not getting any special treatment, no matter how much you want to prove... whatever you're trying to prove." Thinking back to the events of the previous night, Piper's cheeks flushed. It didn't escape Drew's notice, her lip curled in amusement rather than disdain. "Try to act like a true daughter of Aphrodite, alright, hon?" Her tone turned cruel, Piper's swelling mood stomped by her words. What the hell did that mean?

Drew smirked. "Catch you later, Pipes." She sauntered out of the cabin, the rest of its occupants staring after her, not all admiringly.

A few moments later, Piper jumped, caught off guard by a loud, mechanical whirring. "What was that?!"

The boy- Mitchell- stood up from the floor, dusting off his knees."That'd be the members of the quest leaving, on their brand new mechanical dragon." He sounded dull and sour, practically looking green with envy. Piper felt a brief moment of shock before her bad mood resumed; Drew had been truthful when she'd said she hadn't had time to talk.

He stared at her for a long moment, then walked up and stuck out his hand. "I'm Mitchell."

"Oh- yeah, I know. I'm Piper."

He raised an eyebrow questioningly. "You know?"

"Ah, Drew told me."

"Surprise, surprise." Mitchell really did look puzzled, but shook it off with a shrug. "She actually told you who I am? Well, I'm your new cabin counselor, if only for a few days of paradise. Nice to meet you."

"Likewise." Sarcasm seemed to be a common trait among demigods. She let her gaze roam over the room, returning to Mitchell quizzically. "Why were you on the floor?"

"Oh, that?" Mitchell's eyes darted away, and shot her an embarrassed glance. "Just cleaning duty."

"For what?"

"I might have said some things."

"What kind of things?"

Mitchell gave her a look. "Curious type, eh?" He sighed. "Nothing big. Just that you might've been a better choice for the quest than Drew."

"For real?"

"I was just trying to piss her off. Like I said, nothing big." He turned around, missing Piper's deflated expression. He sure didn't pull his punches. "I'll introduce you to everyone before breakfast." He grabbed her wrist, pulling her along. Pushy. "This is..."

xXx

As it turned out, there were only a few people that Piper had to be introduced to. Most of the kids are away for Christmas break, Mitchell had explained. They usually like to leave as early as possible- the kids who stay all year, that is, which is a lot, these days. It's a dangerous world, and, well- Camp Half-Blood isn't actually this deserted.

Deserted? There had to be at least a hundred people; from what Mitchell had been saying, the total number of campers was double that. There'd been an influx of kids after the war... whatever that was. Piper held off from asking. A part of Mitchell seemed to shut down while talking about it, his eyes growing distant and far-away. It just seemed too rude to do so.

Breakfast was a rather uneventful time. For Piper, anyways. She found herself unable to make conversation, sitting at the edge of the table a few feet away from the others. During the offering, she'd prayed half-heartedly in silence. Neither she nor her father had ever been the religious type; he always became closed off whenever Christianity was brought up, and his own roots... Sometimes Piper thought that her father didn't have faith in anything. He'd never been able to believe, not even after all of Grandpa Tom's lessons and stories.

But apparently the gods did exist. She didn't have any reason to question the afterlife, or otherworldly forces. In a far corner of her mind, Piper wondered if it was possible to know of the gods and still be an atheist. Probably. People were strange that way: always asking questions, always wanting to know, always doubting...

Piper chewed on her waffle. It felt like dust in her mouth. On a good day, it probably would have tasted delicious. She just couldn't work up the appetite. Wherever he was, her father was most likely starving. He was injured, hurt and being tormented... and for what? For what? Every time she forgot about her dad, Piper felt a stab of guilt once she remembered. What type of daughter was she? Any other person in her situation should- would be losing their mind with worry.

Piper swallowed her drink, and the bitter taste that rose up after. Any other person wouldn't be doing nothing.

"Piper?" A girl scooted next to her, clutching on to her tray nervously. Lacy. Golden hair pulled into pigtails, a mouth full of braces that she flashed in a small smile. "H-Hi. You looked...?"

"Lonely?" Piper guessed. Her voice pitched at the end of the word as she tried to change her tone. She didn't mean to sound so flat.

"Sad, more like." Lacy tugged at the bracelets on her thin wrists. For an eleven year-old, she was observant. Piper was surprised she hadn't said guilty instead. "I know it can be overwhelming. But you don't- you don't have to be alone. That's the point of- siblings, of a camp, don't you think?"

"Yeah, I guess." Piper smiled weakly in return. She'd never felt more alone than now, but there was no way she was telling Lacy that.

Lacy beamed, pleased with herself. Piper nibbled at the remains of her breakfast.

Even after she was done, Piper found that she couldn't stop herself from moving. Staying still meant fewer distractions, and fewer distractions meant more time to go insane. Her hand picked up the fork, twirling it on the plate in a strange dance- Like a ballerina, Piper mused. It'd been a short-lived dream, one of many that she'd never shared with her father. She'd never gotten to talk to him before it ended.

"Piper," Lacy asked, hesitant. The fork stopped. "Are you okay? You seem kind of out of it."

"I kind of am. Just overwhelmed," Piper lied.

xXx

It was just her luck that the first day of camp, the gladiator version of Capture the Flag took place. Most everyone was excited, jumping on the spot or chatting excitedly; from what she'd heard, this was the first time they'd been able to play the game in months. And most likely, people were out for blood.

"You don't have to play," Mitchell told her, running a hand through his brown hair. His freckles stood out even more among the flush of his cheeks. The hot weather was getting to them all. Piper herself felt like she would keel over at any moment, after such a long day. It wasn't supposed to be humid at the beginning of winter, for god's sake. But demigods tended to bend the rules of logic. "It's just a Thursday tradition," Mitchell said. "You can play next Thursday. Especially since you're a newbie."

"I..." Piper glanced off to the side, where three of her sisters were talking in hushed voices. Unlike everyone else, they remained without a suit of armor. "Are they going to play?"

"No." Mitchell tucked his helmet under his arm. "The children of Aphrodite aren't exactly known for participating."

"Oh. I guess I'll..."

Try to act like a true daughter of Aphrodite, alright, hon?

"I'll sit this one out."

Mitchell shrugged. "Suit yourself."

It wasn't just the memory of Drew's words. From the looks of it, the girls were gossiping, and maybe- gossiping might bring her into the loop of everything, at least answers that she hadn't gotten from anyone else. Keeping secrets didn't seem to be a skill of Aphrodite's kids.

"The poor girl," Piper heard one of them muttering as she walked closer. "For Percy to go missing, after everything..."

"That's just the tragedy of true love, I guess..."

"Hi," Piper started awkwardly.

The girls looked up from their circle. "Hello," they said, just as awkward.

"I couldn't help hearing-" Piper paused, lifting her hands in a beseeching manner, "-what you were saying. I don't mean to intrude, but, uh... who exactly is Percy Jackson?"

She immediately felt ridiculous. What the hell was she doing? This was a whole other level of "nosy".

"Oh, you wouldn't know, would you?" one of the girls said. Ashley; her lips drooped in a permanent pout. "He was- is, I mean- a hero."

The blonde in the group rolled her eyes. "Way to sell it short."

"Okay, okay." Ashley curled a strand of red hair around her finger as she bit her lip in thought. "Without him... well, not a lot of us would still be here. We would have lost the war- the war against the Titans- for sure."

"Still selling it short." The blonde, whose name if Piper recalled correctly was Laura, flipped her hair over her shoulder. "It wasn't just the war. He went on plenty of quests before that too. When he was twelve, he retrieved the lightning bolt for Zeus-"

"When he was thirteen, he went into the Sea of Monsters for the Golden Fleece-"

"And only a couple months after that, he went on that quest to rescue Annabeth... and, uh, Artemis as well, from that titan Atlas, but technically that wasn't his quest since he snuck out of camp-"

"Wait." Piper stared at Ashley, her heart pounding in her ears. "He snuck out of camp?"

Ashley nodded. "Yeah, for Annabeth..." She clasped her hands and seemed to swoon, almost. "Pretty romantic, don't you think?

"Y...yeah." That meant... that meant... "How did he even manage it?"

The girls stared at each other, and shrugged. "He got past the harpies somehow. Anyways, that's not even the last of it..."

Piper tuned out the rest. She was getting out of this camp, one way or another. If it had been done before, it could be done again.

The thought lingered in her head as she laid down on her bed hours later, pulling the thick covers over her body. She stared at the wall opposite her, the shadow of the tree outside the window waving to her among the plaster. Piper turned on her side, putting it behind her. Blowing in the wind, the actions of the tree were too lifelike. For a second, she thought it'd been a monster... her lips tugged up in a humorless grin.

A small breath whooshed out of her mouth as she closed her eyes. As much as she wished, sleep didn't come quick.

The dream started almost immediately as darkness swallowed her.

The ground underneath was rocky, uneven- Piper gasped, stumbling backwards, her feet near collapsing under her. Overhead, the stars shone bright and numerous in the sky, a stark contrast to the plastic glow in the dark stars that littered the ceiling of Cabin Ten. Smoke wafted into the clouds, the fire it originated from casting a strange purple glow for yards.

Piper's eyes darted wildly around her. Judging by the fact that breathing was slightly harder than it should have been, the rocky terrain, the trees at the outskirts of the area and miles of rock leading above, throwing a long shadow over everything except for the patches illuminated by the fire, she was... on a mountain? In a clearing, if she had to take a guess...

The setting was familiar, now that she'd fully taken in her surroundings. Piper's jaw clenched, but it did nothing to stop her hands from trembling. Not in anger, as she hoped, but in fear.

Across from her, on the other side of the clearing, she could see her father, strung up and bound. His head lolled; his once handsome face was covered in cuts and bruises, and god knew whatever the rest of his body looked like... this was worse than the last time. Piper held in the sob that threatened to escape. What had that thing put him through? The giant.

Now anger overtook fear, and her shaking stopped.

At the edge of the bonfire, a large being crouched; legs covered in scales the glimmered in the night, a mop of dreads threaded with bones and those eyes, chalk white with no pupils that examined her as if she was a fine specimen, an animal being cut open in a laboratory.

The giant stood, the ground cracking underneath his feet. He looked at her with an increased intensity, what seemed to be a smile at the end of his lips. The earth quaked as he talked. "Daughter of Aphrodite... so you've come."

I didn't come, Piper thought. You brought me here. Her mouth remained pressed shut.

In the oddly-coloured light of the fire, the giant's face looked like something out of a nightmare- this was a nightmare. The shakes returned. Suddenly, Piper wasn't a safe distance away- the monster's face was right in front of her, huge and horrifying. With features so crude, it didn't even seem alive. So close to the flames, the edges of Piper's clothes charred to embers, and her skin burned. She bit down on her tongue, hard, keeping in the scream that was struggling to emerge.

The giant's eyes creased into a squint, and it smiled without mirth. "You plan to leave that camp, do you not?"

Piper couldn't respond. Tears of terror welled in her eyes- she had to get away. She had to wake up. Wake up.

"You will come to me, won't you, half-blood?" Its eyes seemed to stare straight into her soul. "It appears your father doesn't have much time." It glanced away to her father's motionless form, its face filled with disdain. "His mind will give out before his body, I fear. But you knew that, child."

It leaned closer to her, its voice descending to a whisper- somehow, it still managed to break the steady stream of air. "Do my bidding, and your father will be left alive. You have my word, the word of Enceladus." As it spoke the name, the clouds obscuring the edge of the mountaintop broke, revealing the luminous lights of the city below. From where she was standing, Piper could see the Golden Gate Bridge. A shred of sanity escaped through the chaos throwing her mind into disarray, and her lips opened in surprise.

A gigantic hand reached for her, and this time, Piper couldn't hold back the scream that came. "Come to me."

The dirt fell beneath Piper's feet, and she tumbled into the chasm.

A short author's note:

First chapter, guys! Kind of long, I suppose, but I fear they will only get longer from here. If you've come to the end of the chapter, thanks for sticking around- I've already got at least one fourth of the story planned out, and hopefully, I will be able to update chapter on a weekly basis at least. Again, thank you, and I would love love love if you could take the time to leave a review, now and in the future!