Chapter 3

The demi-gods of Camp-Half Blood stared in horror as four of the most powerful beings in the cosmos looked ready to kill each other. War's fingers twitched irritably on the triggers of his guns and knives popped out of Death's sleeves into her hands like daisies. Famine's huge halberd was held menacingly over her head and Conquest had both of his curved silver swords drawn. The tension seemed to choke the field and no one dared to even breathe as the four assassins stared each other down.

Just as they seemed to pounce on each other a thundering crack filled the air as the Greek deities arrived on the scene. "Is everyone alright?" Athena asked, walking over to the campers.

"W-well," Jessica looked at her mother than pointed at the four assassins, "we are fine… but I'm not so sure about them…"

The four seemed to snap out of their staring contest right then. They glanced at the gods and the campers quickly before glaring at each other once more and reluctantly put away their weapons.

"Welcome," Zeus said, speaking to the assassins in a respectful tone. "I am Zeus, lord of Olympus, what are your names?"

The four in question all exchanged glances before War steeped forward. "Look, it's not that we aren't all simply dazzled to be here… but we're not. None of us would have sent this place a second glance if Chaos hadn't demanded that we come here and protect you. Of course I personally think she's just using you and your little camp in the hopes to drive Lucious out of his lair, but hey I've been wrong before. Either way, the four of us can't agree on much but we can agree that we want to get the hell outa here as soon as possible, so don't expect us to be all cuddly with you."

Both the campers and the gods were extremely taken aback by the cold bluntness in War's voice. Didn't they care at all? Judging by the matching scowls on each of their faces they didn't. Death stepped forward as well, but kept her distance from War, going as far as side-stepping to avoid being near him. "And as you can see we aren't overly fond of each other, although to be completely honest I've never seen these two in my entire life." She pointed her thumb at both Conquest and War. "For which I'm very thankful."

"Nice to meet you too," Conquest retorted, glaring at the black haired girl who rolled her eyes in response.

"Yeah it isn't exactly a pleasure seeing you either." Famine snapped.

"I figured," Death mused, "most people get a little nervous at the idea of meeting Death."

War scoffed while Famine just looked angry. "You haven't changed."

"Neither have you, your still as freakishly pale as before, haven't you ever heard of something called the sun? Or do you still lurk in your cave most of the time?" Death leaned in to look at Famine closely, raising an eyebrow. "You don't need to hibernate do you?"

The red-haired girl looked ready to kill her before Conquest jumped in between them. "Oookay, let's not kill each other before Lucious gets a chance. Besides, you're scaring them." He nodded his head to the Greeks who were staring wide-eyed at the two fighting females.

Famine sent Death one last glare before turning towards the campers and raising her voice. "As you all know we are the assassins sent by Chaos, to some we are known as the Four Horsemen, to others we are simply myths. I'm not sure which is completely true… but either way I'm sure you all know what we go by correct? Or do you need a refresher course? Eh, I will give it to you anyway." The beautiful woman placed a delicate hand on her chest "I'm Famine, and this here is a friend of mine called Sheaka. Beware, she may look cute but she doesn't like people. The man with bleached hair and the boat is Conquest and the boy with the guns and the twitchy fingers is War. Oh yea, and the psychopath with the fedora is Death. What's the name of your little birdy friend again?" Famine looked pointedly at Death and the raven perched on her shoulder.

Death glared at her but answered anyway. "This is Kira. And she's more than just a bird." She turned her head slightly to look her friend. Surprisingly the bird inclined its head softly before taking flight, its wings beating the air silently. Death sent a smirk at Famine before her eyes began to glow an eerie blue. She seemed completely spaced, like even though she was there she wasn't seeing anything.

"Whoa…" War stepped closer to Death. "Uhhhh Death? Ya in there? What's going on?"

"Shut up I'm trying to concentrate, this takes energy." The girl snapped back, not looking at him.

"But, what are you doing?" Conquest asked, looking just as confused. Actually everyone was confused, the campers, the gods and goddesses, even Famine.

Not knowing what to do, everyone stared at the dark-haired girl for several minutes, waiting for her to do something. Finally she snapped out of her haze. "Looks clear Kira, circle back." Then her eyes snapped back to their normal blue. She looked at them, who were staring back at her with wide-eyes. She cocked her head to one side, "What? Is there something on my face?"

"What was that!?" War half yelled, surprise making his voice high.

Death rolled her eyes and sent him a sideways glance that radiated annoyance but answered the question anyway. "I am gifted with something called Insight, among other things it allows me to see through the eyes of my contacted companion, Kira."

"So just now you were seeing through the raven's eyes?" Athena asked.

"Yup pretty much." Death looked bored.

"What else can you do?" Amber asked, curious.

Death smiled knowingly but simply shrugged. "Eh, dunno."

It was an obvious lie, but it was clear Death wasn't going to say anything more on the matter, so the confused Greeks turned to the other three. They were all still looking at Death, but it seemed as if they were going to save their questions for later. "So, what is it that you can do exactly?" Zeus demanded, glaring at the assassins.

War threw up his hands, "Oi don't look at me, I'm human. The only reason I'm still breathing is because Chaos gave us immortality."

Famine rolled her eyes. "I'm an ice mage from the far north, oh and Sheaka is an ice sprite."

"Ice sprite?" Annabeth asked.

"Yea you know, they have very powerful magical abilities and are immortal… they usually come in shapes that best fit with their elements, in Sheaka's case that would be a fox." The tiny fox made a cooing sound before jumping up onto Famine's shoulder and curling around her neck.

"What about you?" Jake asked, turning to Conquest. "How can you use water magic?" Now that the focus was all on him Annabeth once again found herself transfixed by his eyes. They were so similar, they gave her a kind of nostalgic feeling, where had she seen those eyes before?

"How else I learned." Conquest shot back, clearly not interested in talking to the seventeen-year-old. "It really isn't that hard you know."

Jake growled at him, "You think your better than me do you? Well I challenge you to a duel!"

"No."

"What?!" Jake seemed both surprised and angry when Conquest replied. "Why, too scared?"

Conquest looked bored, "No I just don't feel like washing your blood off my clothes. Besides I was sent here to kill Lucious not you, even though if Chaos told me to kill you too I wouldn't hesitate…" The last part seemed more to himself but the other three assassins snickered.

"How exactly can you control water magic?" Poseidon asked, looking at the man strangely "You have to be born with the ability."

For once Conquest seemed lost for words, but Famine stepped in. "Ya he's a mage, how else do you think he got his powers?"

Poseidon and the others seemed to take that for an answer but they still looked unsure. War sighed, "Any other questions?" he asked.

'What are your real names?" Jessica blurted, there was something about Conquest that confused him, and she wanted to know what it was.

"You don't need to know." Death said in a low voice. The other three nodded in agreement.

"Then how do we know we can trust you?"

"You can't." Famine snapped, clearly annoyed. "Now, if you will excuse me I'm going to go take a shower and wash all this blood and guts off me. I take it you prepared a cabin for us?"

Taken aback, Jessica stumbled on her words. "Um yea, there's one for the girls and one for the boys."

All four of them looked genuinely surprised. "Eh?" Death cocked her head. "Wait a sec you want me to share a room with ice girl over here? No way! I will freeze!"

"Hey!" Famine growled "But for once I actually agree with the psychopath, I don't want to share a room with her either. We gotta do everything don't we Sheaka?"

"Ehh, what are you-" Jessica was about to ask her what she meant when she whipped around and walked towards a shaded area by the shore line.

"Hmm I think this will work." She raised her hands a little and everyone gasped as ice crept from the ground and grew into a small house. Lacy design crackled around the sides and the roof radiated light as the sun shore down on it. "Perfect." Famine said happily before turning to the group. "Well I'm all set, Death you can have the cabin."

Death rolled her eyes but nodded silently. Jessica looked around awkwardly, "Okay well then the boys can take the other one."

"Thanks," Conquest started "but I prefer the ocean, I will just sleep on my ship, War can have the cabin."

"Kay," War said, barely sending a glance on Conquest's direction.

Jake looked confused, "Boat, what boat?"

Amber rolled her eyes and tapped his shoulder, "Look behind you genius." The blond boy turned around and seemed to finally notice the huge sailboat resting on the bound behind him. 'Wait why is it on land?"

At this point, even Jessica face palmed.

"He put it there you daft idiot!" Amber growled, her eye twitching with irritation.

Conquest just rolled his eyes, "Yes and I can move it just as easily." He seemed to concentrate for a minute before water erupted from the coast and rushed towards the boat. In a huge splash the water picked up the boat and carried it to the shore line where it landed with a roar.

Everyone seemed slightly shocked into silence for a minute before War spoke up. "Cool, well that's all settled. I will be in my cabin drying off my motorcycle if anyone needs me."

The assassins all nodded and began to go separate ways without even a second glance at the campers. "Wait!" Jessica called, causing them to turn back, "Shouldn't we discuss battle strategies?"

Famine shrugged, "Sure. We will fight off anything that comes to attack you until we learn Lucious' whereabouts or he shows himself, you can hang round and try not to get yourselves killed. Savvy?"

Jessica gaped in shock, too dumbfounded to say anything, but Famine simply turned back around and walked off, the other four going their separate ways, leaving demi-gods confused beyond belief in their wake.

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Later that evening, the cabin leaders sat around a small fire as the sun began to set. They had assured the younger campers that everything was safe but had set a curfew in case anything came sneaking around. The cabin leaders themselves were still in shock from this afternoon's events. Four relatively normal looking people had defeated nearly two hundred monsters without breaking a sweat, and they acted as if it was something they did every day. Also no one had expected the four assassins to hate each other so much. Conquest seemed relatively indifferent and War just had a short fuse, but it was clear that Death and Famine hated each other. It seemed strange, many thought they would be friends since they seemed so similar in many ways but they looked like they would have ripped each other's heads off if given the chance.

War seemed pretty eager to kill too, but he didn't look quite as ready to kill his partners. Conquest on the other hand was another story, he seemed pretty mellow and laid-back, yet at the same time he looked dangerous when he wanted to be. His eyes were the most shocking, they reminded many of the demi-gods of someone, they just couldn't quite put their fingers on it. He seemed so familiar, just the way he walked and talked, but they were all sure they had never met him before, after all how could one forget something as important as that?

"I swear those assassins are just a couple of stuffed shirts." Jake grumbled next to Jessica "If that stupid Conquest would be brave enough to battle me I would show him just how pathetic he is."

Jessica squeezed his hand comfortingly and kissed him on the cheek. "You will Jake, I promise."

Amber and Bruce made gagging noises but otherwise stayed silent and Jessica glared at them for insulting her boyfriend. "We have a point Jessica," Amber said "You saw how they fought, they knew things even Ares doesn't know and it looked like they weren't even trying. Besides they all look to be in their early twenties, which means that they all have more strength than us, and they have been around a lot longer than us too. My real question is just what they could do if they went all out and worked together?"

"Desolate a small town." Bruce said quietly.

"Probably two." Amber added.

The horsemen were obviously shrouded in mystery, just where had they come from? War said he was human, but he moved faster than any human they had ever seen, and what was with Death's gift? She could actually see through the eyes of her raven Kira? And what else could she do? Conquest and Famine were especially scary, given the enormity of their powers, from what they had shown they were especially strong in the magical field, and they each fought with deadly weapons on top of that. They all almost seemed unreal.

On that note, they still hadn't come out of their rooms since this afternoon, no one had seen anything from them. The younger campers had all been eager to meet them but the horsemen were already gone by the time everyone had returned from the woods.

What were they doing?

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Meanwhile in the dark part of the forest four figures moved out of the shadows to face each other.

"Nice of you all to come." Famine nodded.

"We have never actually met in person," War said "I must admit you guys are not what I expected."

"Likewise." Death stated, looking him up and down.

"Look I know we all don't want to be here but we have to so let's get this over with. I'm sure you all know who I am, Chaos said you did, but what are your real names?" Conquest said, looking at each of them.

"Ryan Jackson, no?" Famine asked "Yes Chaos explained to us your situation, I'm sorry?"

"Don't pity me," Ryan said calmly "I get enough of that already."

"Hmph, well then that makes four of us. Anyway, don't worry your secrets safe." War said as both Famine and Death nodded.

"Thank you." Ryan nodded his head in gratitude. "Now, what are you names exactly?"

Famine spoke first, "My name is Hanna Grace, I was born in Canada in the early 1800's." Percy took this moment to look at her, she was no doubt the prettiest girl he had ever seen. She had long hair shone in the moonlight and icy blue eyes danced like fire on ice. She was so graceful and delicate, yet Ryan had seen enough of her fighting to know she was much more dangerous than she looked.

"I'm Daniel Richards." War said, drawing Ryan's attention away from Hanna. "I was born around the early 1970's. My friends call me Danny, or at least they would if I had any friends." Ryan smiled at him a little bit, the guy seemed pretty nice and easy to get along with despite his dark appearance.

"My real name is Alice." Death spoke quietly. "Just Alice. I was born in London in the early 20's but I didn't stay there long." Alice clearly did not look happy talking about her real identity but she tried not to show it, hiding her eyes slightly with her hat.

"Oh yea, where's Kira?" Danny asked, noticing the absence of the black bird.

Alice shrugged, "Out hunting. She will return to the cabin when she's done."

"Aw has your only friend left you?" Hanna teased, but Alice wasn't having any of it.

"Coming from the girl who spends 95% of her time in a cave with only a fox for company. Where is the little hairball anyway?"

"She's sleeping." Hanna replied, "She was tried from all the traveling we've been doing."

"Sure she was!" Alice beamed back in a fake-happy voice.

"You are so stupid."

"No one likes you."

"Says the girl named Death."

"Famine isn't any better."

"At least I'm not associated with rotting flesh."

"No you're associated with shriveled bodies and collapsed organs."

"And yet you're the one who likes to eviscerate people."

"At least I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty girly."

"Oh I can see that judging by the state of your hair, you do realize it's still red right?"

"Yep! Natural highlights, it's better than dye."

"You're soulless."

"Actually it's heartless, that is if you believe everything you read."

"I didn't believe it until I saw it."

"You're really dumb."

"Shut up!"

"No."

"I see why you have no friends."

"Yep, now tell me, what's your excuse?"

"Twit."

"Peasant."

"Why you-"

"Alright you two calm down, we are wasting time." Danny said, stepping between the two.

Ryan nodded. "We need to form a plan of attack."

Alice sat down on a nearby log and put her chin in her hand, her argument with Hanna forgotten. "Lucious knows we are here now, it would seem he always did, so he is likely to send something to come and attack us first before he sends another army to wipe out the camp."

"Right." Danny agreed, sitting down beside her. "He doesn't want to waste his soldiers. He will probably send four or five powerful opponents to attack us separately, we need to be consistently on our guard."

"We need to find out where they are based, that way we can attack them where they are most fragile." Hanna added.

"Since when is a place ridden with monsters of every shape and size fragile?" Alice asked but Hanna simply glared at her. Sighing, Alice continued "Whatever I think if I can keep one of the people he will send at us alive I can draw the information out of him."

"How do you plan to do that?" Ryan asked.

Alice smiled evilly, "I have my ways."

Looking nervous, Ryan nodded. "Okay then, so we should try to keep them alive… I think I can do that."

Danny nodded "Okay then, the rest we all play by ear. Now if you will excuse me I'm off to bed. Goodnight." The blond boy flicked his hood up over his head and walked off into the forest with his hands in his pockets, not sending them a second glance.

Alice yawned, "Yep, I'm off too. See you later I suppose." She left as well, blending into the shadows easily as Hanna glared at her back.

Once the girl was gone Ryan looked at her. "You really don't like her do you?" he asked.

Hanna sighed, "We met several years ago in Russia, it was just by coincidence but let's just say we didn't get along very well."

"I see…."

Hanna sighed, "I think it was in the 3000's, Chaos had sent me on a mission to stop the leader of a new regime who threated to kill half the country, and Alice had been there around the same time as an agent under cover to get information. I was supposed to be her contact, she was to give me the information and I was to assassinate the tyrant, but she didn't wait for me to get there. She murdered him herself the very night I got there. I still remember all the blood, it was everywhere. She had literally ripped his heart out, and she was holding it when I arrived. I was so shocked I couldn't say anything. I don't know just what she can do with that gift of hers but I don't like her violence, she's like a grenade."

Ryan was slightly taken aback, sure Alice seemed violent... but to do something like that… it seemed horrible. "Did she ever say why? She seems like a reasonable person."

Hanna shook her head, "No… but I did some research afterwards. Apparently the tyrant had been abusing his children. They were twins and he believed them to be bad luck so he sold the boy off as an illegal slave and kept his daughter around as a boxing bag. It sounded horrible, but still to die like that…"

"That is pretty gruesome… still I can't say he didn't deserve it…"

Hanna nodded "Yes, I'm sure he did. But still Alice has never seems to worry much about the people she's killing, she just does it in the way that makes her happy… which in some cases is horrible. I suppose that's why she's believed to be heartless."

Ryan shrugged, "I suppose. Still, she's not what I expected. Neither is Danny. You especially took me by surprise."

Hanna blinked, "How so?"

"I don't know I guess I was expecting someone cold and unfeeling. I will admit I was also expecting you to be blue." Ryan said quietly.

"Hmm," Hanna looked thoughtfully as she gazed at the stars from above the trees. "I have to say you aren't what I expected either, I was fully prepared for you to have fins."

"Shut up," Ryan growled playfully.

Hanna laughed, "Well you have to admit it is strange that even after all these years you have only set foot on land once or twice. I thought you turned into a fish or something. You do smell like it."

Ryan laughed, "I wouldn't be surprised if I do, that's all I've eaten for the past two thousand years."

"Ugh," Hanna made a face "Get away from me fish face."

Ryan laughed and leaned closer, "Oh? You don't like the smell of fish?"

Hanna plugged her nose like an eight-year old. "No."

Ryan laughed and sat back, "Fine. I guess I should start snacking on mints."

They laughed for a while before Hanna yawned and stretched her arms over her head. "Well I think I am going to bed, I will see you tomorrow." She got up and made to leaver before turning to leave. "Oh by the way, after this is all over remind me to buy you some black hair dye, the bleached look you have going on looks ridiculous."

"Well, okay," Ryan agreed, "I will see you tomorrow."

Hanna smiled and vanished into the forest leaving Ryan to his thoughts. Sighing, he rested his chin on his hand. It was strange for him to be back here after so long, and to look so different from when he had left. He certainly didn't like it here, but the familiar forests and shoreline offered some comfort. But Hanna's comment had made him wonder, just when would this be over?