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Prologue

~*~

It's early Saturday morning, and you wake up to a silver wall staring you in the face. At first, this confuses you. Your room doesn't have silver walls, right?

You turn around to face the rest of your room, only to discover that you're not alone. Five other teenagers are in the room with you, sitting on their beds, playing video games, or seemingly cooking in the tiny kitchen off to the left.

You frown, thinking to yourself, 'Why am I here? Where is here?'

Then you remember.

Today's your first day at TSA, as the newest agent.

And the teenagers around you? Superheroes.

You recognize the punk-styled black-haired girl who goes by Thalia (whose bright blue eyes seriously intimidate you) pulling out clothes to change into for the day.

Silena, a pretty girl with long black hair and brown eyes, is the girl in the kitchen, smiling over at a boy who's sitting at the table- you immediately recognize him as Beckendorf.

Two boys who look like twins, though you know that they're not, are shoving each other as they race each other on a video game. The Stoll brothers.

Silena smiles at you when she sees you awake. "Morning, Agent A! Ready for your first day at the TSA?"

You give her a small smile. "I suppose. And what's with the agent name? A?"

Beckendorf chuckles. "Hestia came in here earlier, and told us to give you this." He tosses a small card, the same size as a credit card.

You catch it, and glance over the words:

Agent Archários

Official Agent in Training of the TSA (Teenage Superhero Agency)

And in the top right corner, a small picture of you- at least it's better than your yearbook photo.

"Cool." You glance up at Silena and Beckendorf. "But what does Ar... Arch-"

"What does 'Archários' mean?" Silena finishes with a smile. "Apparently it means 'novice' in Greek. According to Hestia, at least."

You remember Hestia from the day before; a young woman in what seemed to be her early twenties with brown hair and warm brown-orange eyes. She had been the woman to show you around the agency once they had offered you a job. She had dropped you off in this room the evening before with a promise to return in the morning.

As if on cue, a knocking sound came from the little door beside the kitchen, and a voice calls, "Team Íroas? May I come in?"

"Come on in, Hestia," Thalia calls, now dressed in a T-shirt reading 'Death to Barbie', ripped jeans, and a silver bracelet on her wrist.

The door opens, and Hestia steps in. "I've got a new mission for you."

Travis, the older of the two Stoll brothers, gasps and spins around from his place on the couch so he is facing Hestia. "A mission? Really?"

Hestia frowns. "I should have reworded that better... A mission specifically for one of you."

Travis pouts. "Aw. For who?"

Hestia nods to Thalia. "Thalia, can you come with me? And Agent A, I need to talk with you."

Thalia seems shocked. "Uh... sure."

You follow Thalia and Hestia out of the room, closing the door behind you. "What did you need to talk to me about, Hestia? I'm not going on the mission, right?"

Hestia shakes her head. "Goodness, no. You'll stay here. I just brought you out to tell you more about the TSA." She turns to Thalia. "As for you, Thalia. You are going on this mission."

"Alone?" Thalia asks incredulously. "Hestia, I'm not sure if I'm ready-"

Hestia holds out a hand, stopping her. "You are ready, Thalia. And you won't be going alone. This is a team-up."

Thalia frowns. "With who?"

Hestia holds out a folder. "This is your assignment. You will be going with Luke Castellan."

Thalia almost chokes. "Luke? From Team Titán?"

"Is there a problem?" Hestia asks.

Thalia shakes her head quickly. "N-no! No problem."

You quietly wonder if it's your imagination, or was Thalia blushing? She catches you staring and glares.

"What's the assignment?" You ask.

Thalia carefully opens the folder, pulling out a document. On the paper was a picture of a girl about sixteen years of age walking down the sidewalk, glancing over her shoulder. Her curly blonde hair was pulled up in a ponytail under a Yankees baseball cap, and her eyes were a stormy gray. The words scrawled underneath the picture said:

Subject: Annabeth Chase, 16

Powers: Invisibility, smarts, more?

Last Seen: San Francisco, CA

Heroes Chosen for Mission: Luke Castellan (Team Titán) and Thalia Grace (Team Íroas)

Thalia closes the folder and looks up at Hestia. "Where's Luke?"

Hestia smiles. "Down the hall, waiting for you. Grover will give you two anything else you need before you're off. Good luck, Thalia."

Thalia grips the folder before nodding to Hestia, then walks down the hall to the doors at the end. You watch her slip through the doors before turning to Hestia, raising your eyebrows.

Hestia grins. "Now, Agent A, walk with me. I have much to discuss."

You follow Hestia to the elevator, and once you reach 'Level One', you and Hestia step out.

"There are some things you must know about the TSA. For one, which I hope you already know, the Teenage Superhero Agency focuses on finding, identifying, and saving heroes, mostly being around 13 to 19 years of age."

"Are there any exceptions?" You ask.

"To the age group?" Hestia replies. "Certainly. Not many, but yes. In fact, I'm bringing you to meet them now. They're quite adorable."

You raise an eyebrow, wondering how young these heroes must be to pass of as 'adorable'.

You follow Hestia past many other agents, working on computers or chatting with each other. Hestia heads to the corner of the large room, where a middle-aged man and two young children were. The man was sitting on a chair, reading a newspaper, and not seeming to care about the children talking quietly in front of him.

"This is Mr. D," Hestia introduces, then she leans over and whispers. "He doesn't necessarily like children."

"Then why is he watching the children?" You wonder.

Hestia shrugs. "It was the easiest job. Don't tell him I said this, but he's pretty lazy when it comes to working."

You nod, then turn your attention to the two children. One is a boy about seven years of age, with large brown eyes and messy brown hair. The other is a girl around the same age with brown eyes and long red hair. A small red blanket is clutched tightly in her hand, like she is afraid of losing it.

"This is Ella and Tyson," Hestia introduces. The boy, hearing his name, looks up, smiles, and waves. The girl doesn't react.

"They both lost their families," Hestia explains quietly so the kids don't hear. "The TSA found them on the streets. Apparently they found each other, so they at least have a friend."

You nod, feeling sorry for the two children.

Hestia turns to you. "Any other questions about... anything?"

You frown, thinking. "Yes... This other kid, Luke? He was on another team? Why are there different teams?"

"Yes, there are other teams, because there are different types of missions," Hestia explains. "Luke is on Team Titán, meaning 'titan'," Hestia explains. "They take care of the more violent or dangerous missions."

"Who else is on the team?" You ask.

"No one you know," Hestia assures. "But since you asked... Ethan Nakamura, Chris Rodriguez, Calypso, and Zoë Nightshade."

"Are they all heroes?"

Hestia shakes her head. "All but Calypso and Zoë, but those two are quite the fighters so they were easily recruited."

"They were agents like me?"

Hestia nods. "Yes. Except they had a difficult past. Not that you didn't, but I do not know much of your past."

You nod, taking in the new information.

"Any other questions?" Hestia asks.

You can't think of anything, so you shake your head.

"Very well," Hestia continues. "Onto your next part of training: actual training."

She leads you to an open computer, instructs you to sit- which you do- and pulls up a page online.

"This is how we figure out which heroes need our attention more urgently over others," Hestia explains. "Go ahead, Agent Archários. What's our next mission once Annabeth Chase has been brought here safely?"

You stare at the computer. On the screen is a long list of names, and additionally information. You scroll down, staring at the names, and occasionally clicking on a few.

Jake Mason, 15

Will Solace, 16

Frank Zhang, 15

You stop at one page that you click on. After reading what's briefly known about the teen, you know you've chosen.

"Uh... Hestia?" You call, and the young woman walks over and looks at the screen. "I think I've found our next mission."

The page showed a picture of the teen, in the same format as Annabeth Chase's document. The teen was said to be last seen in New York, hiding from a government agency that called themselves the Monsters.

The name underneath the photo read: Percy Jackson, 16.

~*~

Official Part One soon to come!