Chapter 1: Betrayal

Percy ran down Half-Blood Hill, looking for Annabeth. He'd been gone for two weeks and couldn't wait to see her. After dropping his backpack off in his cabin he ran towards the beach, hoping to find his wonderful girlfriend in her favourite spot. From the distance he could see a couple kissing on the sand and he smiled, wondering who it could be. As he got closer he frowned, recognising the blonde princess curls of the girl in front of him. He stopped and stared on in shock, unable to look away as his first love leaned away from the kiss and stared at Jason Grace lovingly.

"Annabeth, I'm not comfortable hiding this from Percy and Piper," whispered Jason.

"I know Jason, I don't like it either, but Percy isn't supposed to be back for 2 weeks and we should tell them both together," replied Annabeth, "besides, you're too cute to resist."

Jason smiled and leaned toward her again. Percy turned and walked away, still shocked but unable to look at the scene unfolding behind him for one more second.

Meanwhile, Annabeth opened her eyes to see a familiar head of messy black hair walk away but quickly dismissed her suspicion; Percy wasn't supposed to be back for a while.

Percy walked around aimlessly, trying to process what he had just seen. He wasn't sure what he felt: anger, disappointment, betrayal? Granted, him and Jason had always had a rivalry, but he never thought it was that serious and besides, they had grown close during the trip to Europe and the defeat of Gaia and the giants. And Annabeth, his Annabeth. They had known each other for so long and Percy always thought they would end up married after they finished University. He had intended to propose soon, maybe even during this summer.

Percy stopped in front of the Aphrodite cabin. He knew what he had to do. He walked up the steps of the cabin, already smelling the sickly scent of perfume and knocked on the wooden door. He heard the distinct sound of high heels walking toward the door and found himself face to face with Drew.

"Hey Percy, what can I do for you?" Drew said, flirtatiously.

"Hey Drew, how are you? Is Piper in?" Percy smiled. He was used to Drew's relentless flirting, knowing full well she did so with most of the camp.

"Yes, she's in her room. Are you sure you don't want to talk?" Drew sighed, pointing to a door in the back of the cabin.

Percy smiled at her but moved towards Piper's room, a recent addition to the Aphrodite cabin. He knocked on the door and waited for the daughter of the love goddess to open it.

Piper and Percy had gotten close after the quest to Rome. They spent a lot of time together, whether it was in double dates with Annabeth and Jason or just hanging out. They both had shared a love of bad romantic comedies, a guilty pleasure their respective partners didn't understand. It wasn't uncommon to walk into the Poseidon Cabin to see Percy and Piper sprawled on the couch watching Love Actually with bowls of popcorn on their laps. Sometimes Leo joined of them, which often provoked a popcorn fight and, consequently, no one payed attention to the movie.

"Percy! How was your quest? I haven't seen you for ages!" Piper smiled, after opening the door and immediately pulling the green-eyed boy into a hug.

"Hey Piper! It was ok, not much trouble. I spent most of the time training archery with Apollo," replied Percy, relaxing at Piper's soft voice. Even though she usually didn't mean to, it was not uncommon for the daughter of Aphrodite to lace her words with Charmspeak, with the intention of calming those around her.

"Still can't aim to save your life, Kelp Head?" Shouted a familiar voice from inside Piper's room.

Percy grinned. He knew immediately who was inside. He walked up to the daughter of Zeus and engulfed he in a hug. Thalia had let her hair grow out so it touched her lower back. Her silver tiara, labelling her as the lieutenant of Artemis glowed on her head and her piercing sky blue eyes showed her happiness at being back at camp.

"Get off me, Seaweed Brain, you smell like fish!" Exclaimed Thalia, playfully as Piper rolled her eyes at the two most powerful demigods on earth.

"What's up Percy? I thought you would go and see Annabeth as soon as you got back," questioned Piper, as she sat next to him on her bed.

At the mention of his girlfriend's name, Percy's eyes darkened. He started telling them what had happened, as Thalia held both their hands to comfort them. The three of them stayed there for a while, unable to believe that the people closest to them could have acted in such a terrible way.

"I'll kill them," whispered Thalia, a tear making its way down her face, "Both of them"

"Thalia, it's ok. Piper and I will sort this out, right Pipes?" Said Percy, wiping the tear away from her face.

"My best friend and my brother?" Thalia whispered, unable to process the information.

The three of them stayed there for a while, without saying much. The disbelief on their faces, and the betrayal they felt looked over them like a dark cloud. After a while, Piper proposed they leave camp for a while, leaving a note for Jason and Annabeth to explain that they knew and didn't want to talk to them about it.

"I agree," said Percy, grateful at not having to face both Annabeth and the rest of the camp when everyone found out, "We should talk to Chiron and tell him we want to stay with our families for a while. What about you, Thals? Are you staying at camp? Are the hunters here?"

"Nah, I just came here to talk to Piper about something," Thalia replied, not explaining further, "Anyway, I had a huge argument with Artemis and I fear I won't be lieutenant of the hunt for much longer."

"What! What do you mean you won't be a Huntress? You love it!" Exclaimed Percy, caught off guard by the news.

"I did love it, truly I did. But I'm independent, I don't like to rely on others too much. I felt like the Hunt was holding me back. It will always be a huge part of my life, and I will never regret trying it, but I want to do other things, I want to be free. I'm not sure if I joined the Hunt because it was what I wanted, or because I was desperate not to be the child of the prophecy," Thalia said, solemnly.

Percy nodded in understanding. He could relate to Thalia, as the pressure of being the Child of the Prophecy was sometimes too much to bear for him.

The trio walked along to the big house silently. The magnitude of what they had found out, and what they were about to do seemed to weigh down upon them.

As they entered the big house, Chiron looked toward them worriedly.

"Children, I have just been informed that Thalia has been summoned to Olympus. Piper and Percy, if you wish, you may join your friend. However, I fear this will not be a pleasant meeting," Chiron declared, solemnly.

Percy and Piper looked at Thalia. They both suspected what this might be about, and felt sorry for their friend. The three of them made an unspoken agreement to stick together through everything. Thalia gulped but nodded to Chiron, not trusting herself to speak.

"Argus will be waiting next to the strawberry fields to take you to the Empire State Building," said Chiron, gesturing outside, "Good luck Thalia, I fear I shall not see you for a while, any of you."

After saying goodbye to Chiron, the daughters of Aphrodite and Zeus and the son of Poseidon made their way to Argus who wordlessly gestured for them to get inside the van.

The trip to Manhattan was fast but lacked conversation. When they arrived, Argus waved at them as they walked towards the reception. After convincing the security guard to allow them on the elevator, they arrived on Olympus.

When they got to the throne room, Percy gasped. He was expecting Artemis and maybe Zeus to be there, but instead he stood before the full Council of the Gods.

"Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus and Lieutenant of Artemis, step forward."