Song: i hate you, i love you by Gnash.

26 JANUARY 2024

CAMP HALF BLOOD

1530

Green smoke billowed out of her mouth as her eyes glowed a sick shade of green.

"Two secrets bring the call of Death,
Veterans unite the missing scrolls
The lost city holds the grave.
At skyfall the Earth crumbles,
Time stands still, taking its tolls
Nike prevails at the breaking of a wave
A hero's last mortal breath
The Beast to perish or reign."

"You have got to be kidding me." I grumble as I catch Rachel.

She blinks up at me in confusion, then scrunches up her nose in realization.

"Styx, don't tell me you're involved in another prophecy Perce," she said while regaining her balance and straightening out her paint-covered t-shirt.

"It's what I do."

"At least you're good at what you do Sharko. A lot of people are shit. At any rate, I give it ten minutes before that first line is revealed for us." Sarina says.

"Ten minutes? I give it ten seconds." I reply.

"You're on Babe. Loser buys lunch next." She challenges.

"Deal. Timer starts now." I wink.

We both stare at our Com Watches waiting.

Finally, after an extremely long wait of twenty-five seconds, they start beeping like crazy.

"Agent Jackson, Agent Clarke. I hate to cut your little vacation short, however we have new intel of a terroristic threat that needs immediate handling." The director's curt voice blares over the communication device, her sharp features reflecting on the hologram above our wrists. Yes, I wear two watches. 

"As I recall ma'am, I had another day left of my mandatory vacation." I raise an eyebrow at my blackmailer.

"It's a day of fun or termination of the lives of thousands, not that it's your call." She replies disdainfully.

"Actually, we have reason to believe that the other side of our DNA is partially at fault here. We need to handle this as an outside organization." Sarina states calmly.

"Clarke, I am already aware of the circumstances. As you are only a level four agent, you do not make that call. Neither do you, 003. I don't care what level you are, I can still veto your decision."

"Where are we reporting to now?" I ask, not phased in the slightest.

"Report to Beirut, Lebanon by 2100 hours tonight. The rest of your mission is classified."

"As requested, Director. Also, as of code 10.27 of the Privacy Code, we are now authorized to inform those in the current vicinity of our occupation."

"Do with that information what you will." With that, the face of the woman who rules my life blipped off of the screen.

"What the Hades was that?" Thalia screams at me.

"Isn't it obvious? They're the two secrets of the first line." Annabeth answers partly for us.

"Hello, everyone. We're Agents 003," I start.

"And 112. We're the top terroristic  threat investigation team for the FBI."  Sarina finishes.

Everyone has their jaws dropped momentarily, then I suppose most of them realize it makes sense.

"So..." Piper starts, "What happened in Budapest?"

"That information is classified," Sarina and I answer together.

"I knew you weren't a security guard." Piper mumbled under her breath.

"Alright, now that we have our mission, we'll go gather the information and report back to you on who wants to rule the Earth this time, then we'll issue a quest accordingly." I use my commander voice, and everyone skeptically agrees.

"I'll call a councilors meeting, and inform everyone that you have gone on a quest to scope out the threat. Iris message us if you get into trouble, I don't want to have to see a fifth bullet wound in you, my boy." Chiron hugs me.

"It was way too short, come back to us in one piece." Jason says.

"If you die, I'll visit you in the underworld and find a way to kill you again." Nico stiffly says.

"I'll remember to drown you for that threat later, Death Breath." I laugh.

Sarina and I grab our things and get into her black Mustang, and we head to the airport. Thankfully Zeus no longer feels the urge to blast me out of the sky, not while I'm saving his ass anyway.

Nevertheless, I'm shaking as we board the tin can of death- our small private plane, and Sarina holds my hand the entire plane ride.

26 JANUARY 2024

BEIRUT, LEBANON

2100

We got the rest of our information on a message written into our Com Watches.

We are looking for a man of about 28, six feet tall, brown hair, and brown eyes. He will serve as our informant for this endeavor.

So, essentially any man in the vicinity.

We were dressed in traditional Arabian attire, and walking along the marketplace to our designated meeting spot when it all went wrong. We chose traditional instead of more modern in order to preserve our identities. Loose clothing and head coverings are good for both disguises and protection from the desert sun.

Everything suddenly went silent in the normally rambunctious crowd.

That's when the alarm bells went off in my head, and approximately 35 of the people in the bazaar turned into various monsters and attempted to kill us via swarm.

It's always difficult attempting to fight monsters and save all civilians in the surrounding areas.

We were doing fine against the monsters, it was when the shots went off and everyone who was a real person started running that we ran into an issue. The most can only cover so much.

Because of course, when isn't our informant the one leading the small monster army, holding a jar of Greek fire. And when is there not a god standing beside him, egging him on?

We couldn't get there in time to stop him, and when he tossed the jar into a  pile of explosives after shooting dozens of civilians who were trapped in the center square, the world went black.

I just had to repeat Budapest, didn't I?

A/N: Sorry for the cliffhangers guys, just bought a new laptop today and I'm still setting it up. I also had to spend way too much time at MEPS earlier, but I'm here now. Let me know what you think, I may edit this chapter with an actual fight scene later. I'll let you know whether or not to look for it in next chapter's note. If you haven't noticed yet, I've been challenging stereotypes in this story so far and attempting to take on real issues. Extremist terrorist groups of all kinds are going to be aligned with the evil in this story, to help tie it to the era. If this offends anyone, just watch the news or look up what's happening with foreign and domestic terrorism today. Trust me, you'll be even more offended.

Stay true to yourselves, my lovely badasses.