Quest for the Divine Flame

Disclaimer for the entire story: I don't own Twilight or Heroes of Olympus, SM and Rick Riordan do. The only thing I own is this story and any original characters.

AN: So far there is only one book in the Heroes of Olympus series and it really didn't touch on the details of Camp Roman so I had to take a shot in the dark. Now for some housekeeping: *bold italics* indicates Latin while "italics" is Italian.

Prologue: New Cub

Charlie Swan glanced nervously over his shoulder at the sleeping seven-year-old girl in the back seat of his car. From the day her mother and cradled their infant daughter in his arms then vanished, he had known this day would come. Despite the criticism from the people of Forks, Washington, that a single man had no business raising a girl on his own and that he was trying to turn her into a son, Charlie did his best to prepare her for this day. As much as he loved his home town and its people, they had no idea about the truth of things so he never faulted them for there opinions. Besides, those rumors had gotten a little better when his mom, Marie, had moved in with them. While he was confident that his little Bella knew enough of the basics to hold her own for what were to come but that hadn't stopped a father's worry that she might not make it.

Memories bubbled up in the older man's mind as his car ate up the miles from Washington State to the Sonoma Valley in California. He smiled as images of teaching her how to fish with that Pocket Fisherman when she was three. The little thing had fallen into the water several times; the last time when she'd actually hooked a fish. Unlike other kids, especially girls, that would've cried and given up after falling into the river, Bella refused to give up. Each time he'd pulled her from the water the tiny girl became more determined to succeed. That last time after she hooked her first fish, he'd known better that to help her land it. Instead, he held on tightly to her small shoulders and let her win the fight on her own. The victorious smile that lit up her face after she finally landed the struggling creature reminded Charlie so much of her mother.

The next time he'd seen that smile was when he was called to pick her up from kindergarten. A five-year-old Bella, sporting a split lip and several bruises, wore her mother's smile and a defiant glint in her eyes while another girl, Lauren Mallory, cried in the background. Mr. and Mrs. Mallory arrived then the teacher explained how Lauren had been his daughter. All of the other kids and the teacher agreed that Bella had tried to avoid the fight but the other girl kept pushing until she defended herself. Lauren had ended up with a broken nose and missing her two front teeth.

The last of his memories that played out was from earlier in the week. Charlie had taken the day of from work to spend it with Bella for her seventh birthday; being the Chief of Police had its advantages, especially when he hardly ever took time off and there was very little crime in Forks. He went into her room to wake her up and spent a few minutes just watching the child. Bella was still small for her age; she had mahogany hair with natural red highlights that her Nana kept cut to shoulder length, a heart shaped face, his chocolate brown eyes and a bow shaped mouth. She was also independent, stubborn, a little on the clumsy side and a demigod like her father but more powerful.

Where Charlie was the son of Mars, his mother had been human. Bella's mother had been the goddess, Victoria. Because he was a demigod that meant that her divine aspect made up three quarters of her being. It was being only a quarter human that made her clumsy. From the time of her birth, both Charlie and Marie had known that Bella had a special destiny.

The little girl awoke with a start while her father was still looking at her and her eyes locked onto his then she leapt into her arms shaking. Nana Marie had been whipping up Bella's favorite chocolate chip pancakes so while the three of them ate, Charlie asked his baby if she'd had a bad dream. The two adults shared a look when small demigoddess explained about burnt houses, wolves and a woman's voice telling her to come. The dream was expected but the reason for the look was because the young girl had been speaking in Latin. Marie had made sure the Bella was fluent in Italian so that by the time she was in school, she was bi-lingual but neither she nor Charlie had taught her Latin.

It had been later that night that that the older demigod received a dream omen of his own. In the dream, Charlie stood in front of a huge bon fire in the center of an army camp. He looked around but wasn't able to find any soldier. His father walked out of the largest tent and approached.

*My son, the time has come for Isabella to prove she is worthy of the blood that flows through her veins,* Mars told him in no uncertain terms.

*Yes, father, how long before her trial,* he asked as he knelt before the god.

*She must be at the sacred starting place by sunrise on Saturn's Day,* the God of War commanded in response.

*Thy will be done, my Lord,* Charlie replied then rose up from his knee and looked his father in the eyes for the first time in nearly twenty years. It was a bold move that only one of the god's offspring would do because his get was the first to embrace the brutal truth; the gods and goddesses wanted their children to stand on their own without any interference. The demigod was shocked when he recognized the mirth that danced in his father's eyes because they normally held a fond respect for his children.

"Don't looked so surprised, Charlie," Mars started after switching to English and then continued, "You're one of the few of my children to make it so far into adulthood. I know you've always felt like you disappointed me because you never went into the military but that couldn't be further from the truth. You chose a path no less difficult or honorable than that of a soldier. Defending hearth and home by being a police officer only means that your battles are closer and those you protect give you little glory."

"True but there are times when I wonder what would've happened if I'd taken that appointment to West Point," the half-mortal admitted sheepishly then voiced his real concerns. "Where will Bells stay if she survives?"

"WHEN little Isabella survives, because Victoria has never sired a demigod before, she'll stay with your younger brothers and sisters at camp. Thaddeus is too afraid of your legend with the Legion and what he thinks you'll do to him if he doesn't look out for her," his father laughed and Charlie joined him. As it faded, so had the dream.

After the older demigod woke up and finished his morning routine, the Chief rearranged his schedule for the long trip ahead. His mother had made a large lunch on Friday then watched sadly as Bella ate the plateful of drugged food on her plate. The little girl's head slumped forward in sleep not long after she finished the meal. Charlie picked her up and carried his daughter out to Marie's sedan for the drive to The Wolf House.

Little Isabella Swan woke up on a hard dirty floor, her head supported by a rolled up jacket, to the sounds of birdsong and insects off in the distance. She was aware that every inch of her skin tingled as her eyes fluttered open. The young child sat up and looked around then felt recognition; this place was the burned down house from her dreams. She got up then used the act of brushing herself off to get a grip on the fear that had knotted her stomach. Something in the back her mind told her that Daddy and Nana Marie weren't here and she needed to face whatever happened alone.

Bella took about an hour to fully explore the creepy ruin then sat down on the edge of a marble fountain in the inner courtyard to think. Ever since she could remember, Daddy had taken her out camping and showed her how to do what he'd called survival stuff. Her brain started to automatically comprise a list of things to do. The first one was to find a defensible position to set up camp. The inner courtyard was the perfect place because there were only two sets of double doors that opened into it and it was surrounded by walls.

Next, she had to gather sticks for a fire but before she headed out into the woods, she felt in the front pocket of her Gap Kids jeans and smiled when she felt the familiar shapes of the flint and steel Daddy showed her how to use the last time they'd gone camping. The rest of the morning was spent gathering wood; one of the sticks she found was about twice her size, an inch an a half thick, and almost perfectly straight. Bella knew from her dream that something was going to happen when the sun went down so she started her fire then used her jacket to tie one set of double doors closed. Afterward, she sat by the fire with the long stick at her feet and waited.

A wisp of noise, the sound of claws clicking across marble reached the small demigoddess' ears and she stood up at the same time her foot knocked the end of the long stick into the fire. Bella turned toward the only open set of double doors stared into the lengthening shadows there.

"Here I am," she said in flawless Italian then watched as five large wolves stalked through the doors and began to circle the courtyard while they growled at her.

The small girl knelt down slowly until her hand wrapped around the large stick. She picked it up then held it two-handed as she stood there and waited for one of the beasts to make the first mover. What she was unaware of was the white she-wolf that watched her from deep within the shadows of the doorway. Lupa, the Wolf Goddess, set her muzzle in a wolfish grin as she recognized the deviance in the child's stance. There was little doubt in the she-wolf's mind that her pack was going to leave this sacred ground with a new cub.

The first wolf boldly stalked toward Bella and the tiny half-blood surprised him when she smacked the end of his muzzle with the fiery end of her makeshift spear. He yelped in pain and skittered backward to the sound of his litter mates' mental snickers. Another wolf tried to rush the girl but she met the attempt by swinging the firebrand and the animal's legs were knocked out from under him. The tiny mortal was temporarily overbalanced and one of the remaining wolves used the opportunity and leapt past the child while it raked claws down her back.

Bella bit into her lower lip and barely managed to hold in her screams of pain. Tears trailed down her cheeks but she managed to hit the offending beast in its hind quarters and set the tail on fire. The wolf yelped then jumped into the fountain and doused the flames in the stagnant water there. To an extent, the kid gloves had come off for the wolves. Instead of attacking one at a time, they made a coordinated effort. The small child ended up with another set of scratches but for the most part the pack just toyed with her. They kept bumping into her with their shoulders as they rushed past her. Her flaming cudgel had been knocked from her grasp during the wolves' first pass yet she continued to try to hit and kick the animals. The pack ended the fight when their mother and Alpha made her way into the enclosed courtyard.

*Peace, you have proven yourself to be a worthy Child of Rome, Isabella Marie Swan. We still have many leagues to travel before we rest and I tend to your wounds,* Lupa told the child then turn and raced out of the building. The rest of the pack followed behind her. Bella fisted one of her hands into a wolf's flank and trotted wearily beside it. The animal stopped several times and it late at night before the pack and the exhausted child reached the borders of camp. A group of older demigods raced out to greet them and one of them picked Bella up and carried her the rest of the way.

AN2: There will be an update for Spurs tomorrow and I'm still researching my sci-fi challenge. This story was just something that popped into my head; Ch 1 up soon.