The United Quest

Chapter 1 - An Unexpected and Unwanted Visitor

DISCLAIMER: I am not super awesome; I am not a VERY successful author. To make a long story short, I am NOT J.K. Rowling or Rick Riordan, and therefore do NOT own HP and HoO.

PERCY JACKSON

Percy always had one wish that never came true. And it probably won't ever come true.

      To be a normal  kid for once. No monsters attacking every few seconds. No immortals pestering him. No more dangerous life-risking quests.

      But alas, the Fates were unfair. He had only defeated Kronos last summer, and now he had Dirt Face challenging him again.

      He wanted to scream at the Titans and giants and whoever wanted to destroy the world next. The guys were immortals, after all. Couldn't they take a vacation for a few decades and let him live the rest of his life in peace? Apparently not.

      But however disturbing his life was, he felt content here in his cabin on the Argo II. He was with his friends, whether they had adventured with him for years or just met them three seconds ago, whether they're Roman or Greek.

      So yeah, he was pretty happy even though half the Olympian world wanted to kill him.

      The door creaked open. A girl with curly blond hair and striking grey eyes peeked in. "Can I come in?" she asked.

      Percy smiled at her. "Sure," he said, scooting over on his bed to make space for Annabeth. Annabeth grinned and sat beside him. Percy wrapped his arms around her.

      "So what's up?" Percy asked.

      "Oh, nothing much. I just wanted to talk about the quest. Just to fill you in."

      "Okay." Percy waited for her to start.

      Annabeth took a deep breath. "So, you know those fairytales? Those fantasies about witches and wizards and stuff?"

      Percy felt a little confused. "Yeah, why?"

      Annabeth studied his face. "Chiron thinks they're the long-lost friends mentioned in the prophecy."

      Percy remembered the prophecy, and when it was made by Rachel Elizabeth Dare:

"Seven half-bloods shall answer the call,

To storm or fire, the world must fall.

To seek the help of some long-lost friends,

And face the land with the help they lend.

An oath to keep with a final breath,

And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death."

       Percy raised his eyebrows. "Witches and wizards?" he repeated.

      Annabeth nodded. "They're real. According to Chiron, we helped them build some school for them—same idea as camp, only it's a boarding school. Anyway, the last time we heard anything from them was about a century ago when Hecate helped this guy Albert Bumbledoom—no, Alfred Grimbleton—never mind, something like that—got help from Hecate, the goddess of magic. So I guess you could call them "long-lost friends"."

      "So where do we find these guys? Are they really so powerful?" Percy asked.

      Annabeth raised her eyebrows, apparently surprised at the not-so-dramatic-ish reaction at the mention of a whole new world, but she answered his question anyway. "According to Chiron, they're somewhere in Great Britain, but that's way too broad. So we asked Rachel, and she said for us to go to the Golden Cross Inn in London, go to the tallest man sitting there, give him these coins"—she fished some golden coins that looked nothing like drachma or denarii out of her pockets—"explain our situation, and ask for Harry Potter. That's all she would say," she said, twisting her camp necklace the way she does when she's agitated. "She said we would have to figure out the rest on our own."