ACHILLES ( annabeth chase )

PROLOUGE

tw - includes mentions of kn/ves (i) and m/rder (u) (not graphic)

EVEN THE ROMANS HAD heard of Achilles. The famous Greek warrior. A hero of the famous Iliad. The brash, reckless, impulsive and overconfident Achilles. The most celebrated and known hero in possibly all of ancient history. No one had heard of Val.

The Greeks knew all about Patroclus. The softer spoken hero of the Iliad. Son of one of the Argonauts. The lover of Achilles. The assassin who'd been sent away. Annabeth wasn't a murderer.

Nobody had ever really cared about Valentine Hernandez. Her father thought she was strange and abandoned her and the first chance. She wasn't important. An insignificant demigoddess of the twelfth legion. She'd never done anything great. Val was carelessly tossed aside.

The infamous Bryce Lawrence wasn't infamous when he arrived at Camp Jupiter. He was just a boy, a demigod whom nobody cared about in the slightest. Bryce was like Val. Both were children of underworld deities. Both of them were meaningless to Camp Jupiter. And both of them were willing to do anything to get themselves noticed.

Bryce described it as a game. Him against the authorities. In this game, Bryce made the first move, the first strategic play. It started out small. Small things that most wouldn't really notice, like animal cruelty. But that wasn't enough for Bryce. Val had been watching from the shadows. She knew what Bryce was planning to do. She knew because Bryce needed her help. Val has strange abilities. Bryce needed her strange abilities. They both wanted to be noticed. A second player was added to Bryce's team.

It was the perfect plan. Val remembered that day.

"Are you sure this will work?" She asked.

Bryce turned to her. He had a dangerous gleam in his eyes. "Yes, Hernandez. I am sure."

They'd had this conversation before. Val could tell she was getting on his nerves.

"And if it doesn't," Bryce continued. He laughed dryly. "You'll still get the blame."

That afternoon was an unpleasant experience for Val. It was also necessary. It seemed to really be the perfect plan. For a few hours, Bryce and Val remained unnoticed. Then, someone said something.

"Who is responsible?"

The loud, commanding voice of Reyna Arellano echoed across Camp Jupiter. Every conversation stopped, every activity halted and every person froze. Reyna and Jason Grace were standing before Camp Jupiter. A look of pure disgust, indignation and disapproval was upon Reyna's face. Jason was calmer, but not by much less. Many of the campers were confused. What on earth is Reyna talking about? But Reyna was smart. She knew that whoever was guilty would understand.

Val felt like her blood was drained from her body. Nobody was moving. Then, agonizingly slow, Bryce Lawrence stood from where he sat beside Valentine. A cold smile laced itself onto his face. This was what they had been waiting for.

Of course, Bryce immediately made sure Val took on her part of the punishment. They stood trial, and with Reyna's dogs and Reyna herself against them, they would have stood no chance if they'd wanted to clean their hands. But, fortunately for the two, they didn't. Val and Bryce knew what they did. They wanted to be punished. But not with the punishment Reyna had in mind.

Bryce Lawrence narrowly escaped his punishment. He was banished. Sent away. Gone. But even as he left, a small, malicious gleam in his eyes glittered in the moonlight.

Then it was Valentine's turn. Reyna was both shocked and disgusted at the fact that Val had taken part in this malevolent deed. But that was the plan. Now, the once unknown girl was an infamous threat to the once orderly Camp Jupiter. Word spread like wildfire.

But Val wasn't done yet. Octavian wasn't going to let her punishment suffice. Not with her abilities. He had seen what mystical tricks she could perform with his own eyes. Octavian was almost as ambitious as Val was.

Val hurried down the hall. Nobody had seen her. Her breathing was heavy as she jogged back to her room when-

"Valentine?" Val froze. She slowly turned around, trying her best to hide what she had in her hand behind her back.

"Hi, Jason." She replied, slowly.

"What're you doing?" He asked. "It's-it's the middle of the night..." his eyes flickered to Valentine's hand. "Is that Reyna's knife?"

Val had two options. Confess, let him take the knife, and ruin her plan. She didn't like that option. Val chose the other.

Very suddenly, Val straightened her posture and snapped her fingers at Jason's eye level. A small gust of wind spread from where her fingers clicked. Jason's eyes were a little glassier. "I am not holding Reyna's knife." She spoke firmly. "My hand is empty." Jason's glassy blue eyes clouded over, then cleared. Val held her breath.

Jason hesitated. "Where..?" He looked around in confusion. "Valentine?"

Val gave a small smile and kept the knife behind her back, praying he'd succumb to the spell.

"I ... sorry I must've ... sleepwalked or something." He muttered, turning back to his room.

Valentine exhaled. She waited a moment, then turned on her heel and walked straight into Octavian.

"What're you doing?" He asked.

Val quickly regained her composure and prepared to snap her fingers. She raised her hand, but Octavian grabbed it. "And I saw what you did to Jason."

Val twisted her wrist out of his grip. She had to think fast.

Val used her free hand to slam Octavian into the wall. She covered his mouth and pressed her elbow against his chest to hold him down. She raised Reyna's knife and hovered the blade over Octavian's throat.

His eyes were filled with pure hatred. "If you want to live," Valentine said, dangerously quiet. "You'll be quiet."

And he had been quiet. Until Val's trial.

As Valentine's fate was determined, Octavian leaned over and whispered in Reyna's ear. The praetor's eyes widened. She had a swift, hushed conversation with him. Everyone present at the trial was silent. Reyna announced Val's fate.

So Valentine Hernandez was banished. But not to find her own way in the world. She was banished as a Roman spy. Octavian needed proof, and Camp Jupiter needed Val to redeem herself. Some would say it was the perfect plan.

And this is why a mysterious girl turned up on Half-Blood Hill with no satyr guide, all alone and armed with an ancient Roman sword.

And this is why Annabeth Chase is so determined to find out why she's so strange.