* ~ Murkiest Intentions ~ *

Prologue

Annabeth Chase, daughter of the successful business woman Athena Pantheon and the unsuccessful school teacher Fredrick Chase, knew how to be successful in life. She learned early on that dreams were nothing more than wistful fantasies, flightless wishes that only ruined careers and derailed progress. Dreams were for children. It was a hard lesson learned, between the divorce lawyers and the screaming and the midnight stars that twinkled brightly but never granted her tearfully whispered prayers. A lesson furthered by a disapproving mother and a waste basket full of architecture designs. A dream neatly tucked away in the far corner of her mind, because her full ride scholarship to Stanford was for a business degree and not architectural design. Annabeth Chase graduated with full honors on a crisp spring morning and when her mother's employer, the billionaire Zeus Olympian, offered her a job at his amusement park, Jurassic World, she took it without blinking an eye and never looked back.

Annabeth was promoted to operations manager two years after working under Olympian, much to Lightning Incorporation's dismay and her mother's smug pleasure. How could a twenty four year old run a multi-million dollar park? She wasn't sure, but Annabeth Chase never backed down from a challenge. Olympian dismissed the board's concerns and, twelve months later and a year older, Annabeth ran Jurassic World with a level head and an iron fist.

Two new assets had been added in the short time Annabeth worked at the park and a third was on the way. Jurassic World grew at an exponential rate. Their profit, park attendance, and net worth climbed every second under Annabeth's careful eye. Park employees were carefully selected, expertly screened, and meticulously trained before they ever stepped foot on the island. In the secluded privacy of the elevator, Annabeth allowed herself a small smile. She could run a multi-million dollar park just fine.

The elevator gave a soft ding and Annabeth took a sip of her coffee (two creams one sugar because while caffeine was essential to her continued mental health, she never truly took a liking to its natural flavor). She strode meaningfully forward, out of the safety and seclusion of the quiet elevator and into the chaos in which she thrived.

"Ms. Chase, the temperature is seventy one degrees and expected to climb – "

"Attendance is at thirteen thousand two hundred – "

"A gallimimus collapsed this morning. A medical tent has been erected around it and a vet is scheduled to check her out later this – "

"Maintenance projects the addition to the dimorphodon cage should be finished by the end of next month – "

"Seventy-one, good that means we should have less heat strokes. Attendance steady with projections, get that vet out to see the gallimimus as soon as possible. I don't want guests to see the medical tent for too long, get her out there right now. And tell Beckendorf I want that addition finished by the middle of next month and no later." Annabeth addressed, sending her employees scampering away.

"Annabeth."

Silena Beauregard walked up to her friend, smiling. Annabeth nodded at the petite, beautiful woman. Silena, who usually worked with the apatosaurus herd, was temporarily filling in as Annabeth's right hand woman as her real assistant (well 'secretary' was the official title but Annabeth refused to use it on principle and out of the desire to keep her face in its current arrangement thank you very much) Thalia was busy back in the States due to personal problems. Personal problems, of course, meaning her father. Thalia Grace, the proudly illegitimate child of Zeus Olympian himself, was unhappily drawn into the drama that was the Olympian family. Annabeth did not envy her a bit. The Olympian family was an absolute mess and Annabeth would rather brave an electric malfunction during peak season then deal with their problems.

Silena wasn't a bad temporary assistant, although she lacked Thalia's special air, so really Annabeth had nothing to complain about.

"Mr. Olympian would like to speak with you." Silena told Annabeth, breaking her out of her musings.

"Is he here?" Annabeth asked in mild alarm. Olympian never gave her any warning when he showed up. The only notice she ever got was the few precious minutes between when his private jet asked for permission to land and the actual landing. It was a constant source of stress for her. Breathe, she chided herself. Everything's fine. The park is running smoothly.

"Video chat, already set up in your office."

Thank God.

"Alright, thank you Silena." Annabeth said, tipping her coffee at the woman as she headed back to her office. After a quick peek in the control room (temperature really was seventy one and attendance climbing) she ducked inside the sparsely decorated office behind the hard wooden door with her name printed on it in bold golden letters.

"Mr. Olympian," she greeted as she sat down at her desk, turning her computer monitor so she could properly look at her boss.

Zeus Olympian was rather ordinary in appearance for a billionaire. He was a handsome man around the same age as Annabeth's own father. His black hair grayed around the edges, yet the salt and pepper look actually added to his appearance. Sharp electric eyes gazed out of his rather stern face, which was all sharp lines and edges. His very being seemed to radiate power; Annabeth had seen his smile win over many parties and his frown condemn even more.

"Ms. Chase," he greeted in his usual low, rumbling tone. "How is my park?"

It was the usual greeting, giving with its usual halfhearted concern. Olympian bought the park when she still attended high school, in a vicious bidding war between Lightning Inc. and his competitor T-Core. To this day, Annabeth still doubted Olympian actually wanted the park, or all the work that went into owning it. But pride got the better of most men and here they were. Annabeth took a sip of her coffee before responding.

"Growing. Attendance is up, revenue steadily increasing, the stock market is projected to – "

"Wonderful," Zeus interrupted, as she knew he would. "Send me a complete write up later."

Annabeth dutifully nodding, knowing full well the write up would never actually fall on Olympian's lap but land instead to one of his many accountants. Her mother, perhaps.

"I called to talk about our newest assets."

"Sir, again, I must advice against – " Annabeth stared, tapping nervously against her coffee cup. Zeus held up a hand and she obligingly bit her tongue.

"I know your feelings on the matter Ms. Chase, you've made them quite clear and vocal. Several times in fact." He paused to frown at her, "were all those memos really necessary?"

"Did you read any of them sir?" Annabeth could not help biting back.

Something close to petulance crossed the billionaire's face. "Yes," he lied.

Annabeth rose an eyebrow but wisely said nothing.

Zeus sighed and rubbed his temple. "Look Ms. Chase. I understand your concern. I honestly do, alright? We go through this every time we add another carnivore. Trust me, this asset was in the works back when you were still eating ramen noodles and cramming for finals alright? I have the best contractors in the world, the highest rated safety inspectors and emergency protocol services working for our case. Years of research and deliberation has gone into this project."

"I know, sir." Annabeth grumbled. And she did. She had meticulously read every single scrap of paper in this assets' file, double and triple checking for errors, inconsistencies, red flags of any kind. She had yet to find one, aside from the unsettled feeling in her gut and that terrible name on the top of file.

"This is going to happen, Ms. Chase," Zeus warned. "The DNA has already been synthesized and the eggs created. Millions of dollars have gone into these assets. I will not terminate it."

"Yes sir."

"Good," Zeus leaned back in his chair, his body language a clear sign that this meeting was coming to a close. "I have already located a suitable trainer for the assets. Negotiations are still ongoing but he should arrive by the end of the week. I know you'll make him feel welcomed."

"What are his qualifications?" Annabeth asked immediately, suspicious in an instant. She hated when Zeus went over her head and hired people directly. It never ended well. He never gave them the scrutiny she did and she loathed every employee he brought on. There was not a one that did their job properly (according to your standards, Thalia once said as if there were any other's to meet).

"Welcomed, Ms. Chase, make him feel welcomed," Zeus avoided. "You will get a full file on him later. Keep me posted."

Before Annabeth could protest, the screen went black and Zeus Olympian disappeared. Annabeth sat at her desk, fuming silently. As if a new asset were not bad enough, but she didn't even get to personally pick their handler. Annabeth opened her desk angrily and pulled out a file she had been carefully working on for the past three months, a narrow list of three people she deemed fit for the position. She angrily glared at it. Zeus did not chose one of them, despite the fact that she emailed the list to him multiple times. He would have given her a name if he had. Feeling vindictive and irritated, she shot a text off to Thalia.

New asset's trainer, can I at least get a name?

She tucked the phone away and pulled out the file on the new asset. Her stomach twisted just looking at it. She opened the worn folder and stared down at the name written across the top. She traced the letters with her finger, scowling. A picture of the asset, digitally created from the limited data paleontology provided, stared at her: a bipedal, feathered carnivore with a long tail and sickle shaped claws. Thought to be capable of quick burst of speed, not unlike a cheetah. A pack animal with problem solving intelligence.

The velociraptor.

Despite herself, Annabeth shivered. She quickly tucked the file away, back in her desk under the piles of paperwork and memos. This is a bad idea, she thought, for the hundredth time since Olympian first brought her on the project. Her phone buzzed; Thalia had texted back.

How should I know?

Annabeth scowled. While anybody else might buy Thalia's 'I'm just a rebellious headstrong punk why should I care what my father does' act, Annabeth knew better. So she shot back an angry:

I need to know Thalia. It's important.

Annabeth could practically hear Thalia sigh and roll her eyes as she read the message that came through not a minute later:

Percy Jackson.

"Percy Jackson," Annabeth repeated. She racked her brain, trying to find at least a sliver of recognition at the name. She mentally ran through a list of possible suspects, every paleontologist, professor, researcher, hell even veterinarian of prehistorical or genetic importance she could think of. She came up blank. She had never heard of a Percy Jackson.

"Annabeth?" Silena peeked her head in, looking concerned. "Is everything alright?"

"No," Annabeth replied honestly. "I think we're in big trouble."

A/n Hello my dears. Honestly, I have no idea where this came from, it just sort of happened. I have so much on my plate right now but it just begged to be written so I caved. I have a few chapters written already and I hope to stay ahead, but things happen. I will try to update every other week so hopefully I'll never fall behind. The prologue is short, I promise the chapters will be longer. It's going to be a little different then my other stories, mainly in such that this will be a little more mature than my usual stuff. And no I don't mean mature in the sense of rating or content but as in less child-like and innocent. Also, my Thalia swears a lot. As always, I hope you enjoyed ~ *

(On another note, my computer recently crashed and I had all my files backed up except the Fairy Tale Collection so if you're reading that I'm a little behind)