PROLOGUE
KIM
It was the summer of 2013 and Kim was reading her favoirate book, The Mark Of Athena by Rick Riordan. Her golden hair shone in the moonlight. She imagined every word she read in her mind. Drowning in black water, fighting two 'drunk' gia
nts, everything she read being real.
'Are you awake Kim?' Her dad called up the stairs.
'Yeah. Why?'
'It's one thirty in the morning. You need to go to sleep.' Dad said. Kim looked at her bedside clock. it was, indeed, one thirty in the morning.
'Gee whizz! Thanks for telling me Dad. I think Piper's on the Laptop. I could hear it runnin' when I went to the bathroom a few hours back.' Kim was absolutly positive that she heard the laptop at midnight.
Dad laughed, 'Well, she might've turned it off to get some sleep by now.' He started climbing up the stairs, 'But I'll check she's asleep if you want?'
'Thanks dad.'
Dad came into her room. He tucked her in. 'I see you've been reading some more of that book. Is it any good?'
'Yeah. I'm so close to the end now. I can't wait 'til The House Of Hades.' Kim said.
'When does it come out?' Dad asked, 'I'll try to get it for you for Christmas. I'm not promising that i'll get it for you, but i will try.'
'It was out on October 8th. It's December 5th today.'
Dad turned out the bedside light, 'Okay, Christmas it is then. Now, get your beauty sleep. There's a big day ahead of you.'
'Night dad.' Kim yawned
'Night dear.' He kissed Kim on the forehead, 'Sleep tight.' He exited and she heard him walk to Piper's room.
Kim closed her eyes and hoped that her night wouldn't be ridden with nightmares. For the past month or so, she'd been having nightmares full of death and disaster. Usually friends killing friends, gods killing monsters from Tartarus. The last thing she heard was her dad going into his room before she fell asleep.
The blackness slowly turned into a misty day. She ran away from home, out of Los Angeles and, somehow, she ended up in Camp Half-Blood. She found out that she was a daughter of Aphrodite. The dream blurred. When it came back into focus, Camp Half-Blood was a war zone. The Greek were fighting the Romans. She could hear her sister calling out.
'Jason!.' She would cry, 'Where are you.' But there was no relpy. Just thunder and lightning, rain and fire, war and love.
Kim saw Jason. She obeyed her instincts and ran towards Piper, 'Pipes! I've found him!' She shouted over the rain.
'Take me to him.'
Kim took Piper's wrist and they ran towards his limp form. He was on his side. They turned him over. He started to cough and splutter. Sometimes he would cough up blood. He had his right hand on his left side, putting pressure on the deepest wound that she had ever saw.
"By the Gods Jas. Who did this to you?" Piper was choking back sobs, tears welling up in her eyes. The rain coming down even heavier than before. "Was it Octavian?"
"Octavian was too much of a wimp to face me himself. He told Reyna to 'take care of me'." He managed a smile, "Ha. Didn't think it would come to me being like this. I was so close to killing her. If she didn't doge that last swipe, she would be crawling on her knees by know." Jason coughed again. It sounded more...painful, harder than all the others. He didn't have much life left to live.
Piper looked at her younger sister, "Kill her. Octavian can fall as well. I've put my faith in you."
Kim nodded. She stood and, the first person she saw, was Octaian. She charged. By the time Octavian raised his sword, it was too late. His head fell to the ground and rolled down a hill. Then, Reyna was in veiw. Kim wiped away the blood on her face.
"Hey, Reyna. you want to challenge me to a duel or what?" She tried to put as much force into her voice as she could.
"You think you can beat me? Well, i suppose it's worth a shot." Reyna said, maliciously. She pulled her javelin out of a Greek and wiped the blood off on the grass. The girls marched foward. They stopped when they were a few feet apart. Rena held out her hand. Kim turned her head to one side, spat out blood and said, 'Octavian's blood doesn't taste that nice. Nasty. Vile'
'You ready to fight?' Reyna asked. Her face molded into a develish look. If looks coould kill.
'Born ready.'
Reyna made the mistake of counting down with her fingers. When five became two, Kim swiped, causing Reyna to lose her balance and fall into the mud behind her. She retailiated and parreid the next strike. She stood. Kim swiped, followed by Reyna's parry. Reyna swiped only to be rewarded by a parry. It went on and on. Side-stepping, rolling, doging, jumping and gusts of wind, causing Reyna to fall back in the mud. At least Jason was using what little strength he had left. Eventually Reyna jumped too high. When she landed, Kim was behind her. She used the hilt of her dagger to hit Reyna behind the knee. Reyna fell to knees.
'Leo. It's down to you.' Kim shouted. Leo came running up to Kim, 'Finish her off.' Leo nodded and summoned fire. She walked and loved the sound of Reyna's screams as she burned. Revenge is sweet after all.
Kim began to run back to Piper. She could her cry's and sobs. She began to tire up. Her legs felt like jelly as she ran. I can do this. She told herslf, Only fiftey meters. In a matter of seconds Kim was thirty feet away. Then, a wave of pain went up her spine. She stopped in her tracks.
'Piper! Hel-!' Kim managed to cry out her sisters name but, she couldn't finish her sentance as a splurt blood came out of her mouth. She looked down and, protuding from her stomach, she could see a black weopon. She gasped as it was pulled out from behind her and she kicked into the mud from behind, quickly being turned over to see her killer. There, her 'friend' (if that's what you would call him) was stood over her. He lowered his sword until it was by his side. In quick sucsesion, he raised the blood and lowered it. It was coming towards her throat.
Kim woke, screaming. She put her hand on her throat, making sure it wasn't bleeding. She started whispering the prochercy of seven from her book, 'Seven shall answer the call, to storm or fire the world most fall. An oath to keep with a final breath, and foes bear arms to the doors of death.'. She wasn't gurgaling, that's a good sighn. She picked Piper's phone up, she left it in her room the day before. She swiped her finger across the iphone's screen. She saw that Piper's wallpaper was a picture of her boyfrien, Jason, holding an ice-cream cone. She just realized that his friend, Leo, was behind behind him, holding a spoon with a dollop of whipped cream gradually peeling away from the spoon as he tillted it, The handle in the air and the spoon just above Jason's head. Leo had a meischeifious smirk in his face. Kim looked away from the picture and looked at the time. It was 6:15am and it was the 6th December. She couldn't beleive Christmas was nineteen days away already. She put the phone down on the bedside table and got out of bed. She went into her closet. She was stuck on what to wear. She didn't pay any attention to the weather forcast for today. Yet again, she picked up Piper's phone. She went onto the weather app and looked up the temperature for LA. It was supposed to be twenty degrees with complete sunshine. She put the phone back down and went back to the closet. She grabbed an orange vest top, a pair of beige short-shorts, purple trainer socks and her black sneakers. She changed and picked up her hairbrush. She picked up Piper's and her own phone and put them in a seperater pocket. She clambered down the stairs and entered the kitchen. She grabbed a slice of toast from the kitchen unit and sat down, next to Piper, at the dining table.
'Good morning Kim.' Piper said. Being the happiest she had ever been all year, 'Happy Christmas.' Piper passed Kim a plate and the Strawbwrry Jam. Kim put the hair brush on the table and started to spread the jam onto the toast. 'Have you had another nightmare? We heard you scream.'
'Yeah. Worst one ever. If i hadn't woken when I did, I would be dead. My best friend would've killed me.'
'C'mon, c'mon, with everything falling down around me. I'd like to believe in all the possibilites. C'mon, C'mon, with everything falling down around me. I'd like to believe in all the possibilities.' Piper's phone was ringing and it was Jason's voice.
'Kim, can you answer that for me? Dad's told me to do the washing up.' Piper asked. Kim nodded and answed the phone.
'Hiya Jason.'
'Hi Kim. Can i talk to Piper?'
'My dad told her to do the washing up. Unless, I switch places with her.'
'Or you could put the phone onto loudspeaker.'
'Good point. Let me ask her.' Kim moved the phone away from her ear by about five centimeters, 'Piper, should i put the phone onto loudspeaker?'
'Yeah go on then.' Piper said.
Kim put the phone onto loudspeaker and said, 'There we go. You're now, officialy, on loudspeaker.'
'Great. What are doing today?'
'Well, we'll leave to pick you and Leo up in about an hour. So about seven twenty. Then we need to do some shopping. Oh, dad said that you guys could stay round for christmas and Annabeth can if she wants to. Kim keeps in touch with on gmail everyday. She told me that she doesn't want to be with her dad for christmas.'
'I could always ask her for you. Saves you the trouble.' Jason suggested.
'Nah. It's fine. I'm sure Kim wouldn't mind calling her. Would you Kimmykins?'
'Nope. I like calling Annabeth over Christmas.' Kim said. She had already called Annabeth's cell twenty-five times already.
'Okay. Where should me and Leo meet you guys?' Jason asked.
'In or outside camp. Me and Kim will either probably go in.'
'Cool. See you in camp. Love you Pipes.' Jason said.
'Love you too.'
'Same here. In a, uh, friendly way.' Kim said, trying to find the right way to use.
Jason laughed, 'Oooookaaay. Anyway, later. Bye.'
'Bye.' Kim and Piper said in unision. When the line went dead, Kim put the phone on the table, Piper dryed her hands and sat in her chair.
'That was weird.' Piper said. Dad came into the room. He was wearing jeans, white sneakers and a a navy blue t-shirt. The girls very rarely saw him wearing casual clothes. He was so busy with work he wore his costumes or read his script but, since he went missing from work courtesy of his ex-assistant, Jane, and a giant, he'd turned down five roles so that he could contact Piper reguarly and spend most holidays with his children.
'What was weird?' He asked, brushing Kim's hair.
'Well, Jason called me just now. Seeing where to meet us. I said inside camp. That way we can tell my friends to have a great holiday. Anyway he said 'Love you Pipes.' and i said, 'Love you too. Piper said. Then, Kim laughed and dad stopped brushing her hair.
'What's so funny Kim?' Dad asked, 'I think you're going bonkers.'
Kim jumped out of her chair and said,' Then I said, 'Same here, uh, in a friendly way.' he laughed and said,' She tried her best 'Jason' voice, Oooookaaay. Anyway, later. Bye.'
'Oh, That's why it was weird.' He sat Kim down and continued to brush her hair, 'Have you two washed and brushed your teeth yet?'
'No. We just finished breakfast.' Piper said, 'We're just about to.'
'Okay. I'll just put your hair in a bun so it doesn't get wet.'
'Okay.' Kim said. She gave him a fluorescent pink hair band. Dad finished her hair and she stood up. She ran up the stairs and entered the bathroom. Piper came in a few seconds later. First they brushed their teeth, then they washed their hands and dried themselves. They went down the stairs.
'You still need to call Annabeth.' Piper said.
'I'll call her when we're in the car.' Kim said, 'I'm sure she won't mind.'
Then Kim's blackberryesque phone rang.
'I believe the world is burning o the ground. oh well, i guess we're gonna find out. Let's see how far we've come, let's see how far we've come.'
'Who's calling you Kim?' Dad asked.
Kim took her phone out her pocket, 'Annabeth.' She answered. The conversation went like this:
Kim: Hi Annabeth. I was just about to call you.
Annabeth: I hear that I can come round yours for the holidays.
Kim: That's what my dad said.
Annabeth: I was wondering if it was okay.I don't want to go to my dad's and i don't want to stay here either.
Kim: Okay. I double check with my dad. (Lowers the phone by five centimeters) Dad, can Annabeth come round for Christmas as well.
Dad: I did say that it was okay.
Kim:(Puts the phone back to her ear) He said it's okay.
Annabeth: Okay. I'll meet you with Jason and Leo. Tell your dad my thanks.
Kim: Sure will.
Annabeth: Thanks. Bye.
Kim: Bye.
The call ended. She put her thumbs up and Piper put her thumbs up in reply.
'Let's go girls. It's seven twenty already. Doesn't time fly by in this household?'
'Sure does dad.' The girls said in unision. They left the building and got into the seven seater. They buckled up and dad started the engine. They pulled out the driveway and started on their journey to Long Island.