Chapter 1
[House of secrets
Clare
Annabeth was the last person that Clare wanted to face.
She was sitting in the small round table, going through her piles of files. Her hair was a rat’s nest, and her eyes were a troubled gray. All signs that Annabeth Chase was infuriated at someone.
Clare guessed that “the someone” was probably her.
Please don’t notice me. She prayed. She closed the thick wooden door as softly as she could.
Big mistake.
She heard her of course. Annabeth Chase had the ears of a supersonic cat.
Clare believed that she could probably hear a pin drop from a mile away. If she wanted to.
“ You are extremely late”.] Annabeth said. It wasn’t a question, it was a fact.
"Yeah I know. I had some trouble getting home and stuff…” She broke off. She winced at her extremely lame excuse.
“ I know you did. I called Cory an hour ago. She said you never made it to her house. Where were you Clarissa?" Annabeth still hadn’t looked up from her work table.
Clare sighed. She knew this was a lost battle, like so many others with her mom. If there was one thing that Clare was sure about, it was that her mother was pretty darn smart.
“Why are you home so early?” Clare tried, anxious to change the subject. Her mom wouldn’t let her go until she proved that Clare was totally wrong. And frankly, Clare wasn’t in the mood to listen to a six hour lecture of her bad behavior .
Her mom looked at her oddly, and then slowly got up from her seat. Clare saw with horror that she was clutching a bloody hand and fingers. This shocked Clare more than anything. No one could get the best of her mother. She was too skilled and intelligent. She could string you like a puppet in a children’s play. It was one of the many awesome things about her mother.
Annabeth was gritting her teeth. She was trying to conceal the pain from Clare. And she was epically failing.
Clare reached toward her mother, but she waved her away.
It’s not the time to doodle on me Clare! I can handle it. This isn’t more than a small bruise. I can handle it. Bring me the TV remote! She snapped at Clare.
“And don’t think I haven’t forgotten about this late incidence. I will be punishing you accordingly, after I watch this news cast on the TV. Now get me the remote.” She continued.
Clare flinched. That sounded really harsh. Even from her mom. She only sounded this way when the situation was dire.
She quickly scrambled around the small apartment for the remote. She cursed silently underneath her breath. The remote was in her small bedroom. She knew she shouldn’t have been watching Gossip Girl last night, but she couldn’t help it. The show was so addicting that it should be considered illegal. She wondered if that was how drug addicts felt about heroine.

“Um mom.. I think it’s in my room.”
Annabeth knitted her eyebrows. “What in Hades gym shorts is it doing in there?”
“Well….” Clare tapped her foot gingerly. Right and left. Up and down. Right and left. Up and down. Pretty soon she got into a funky rhythm. Not because she had been taking dance for years, but because of her ADHD. She got distracted so easily. She once got so unfocused that she didn’t notice that Porphyrion’s army was marching through the streets during the The Feast of Fortuna holiday. Which had turned into more of Glorify the Giants that had enslaved all of human kind day. She still remembered the sounds of the Cyclops’ feet. They had sounded like thunder storms crashing toward the Earth. If someone hadn’t pulled her toward the side, she was sure she would be dead by now. Cyclops were ruthless, especially Ma Gasket and her army.
“Clare can you hear me? I ask for the tenth time, what in Zeus’s lightning bolt is it doing in your room?” Her mother’s brisk voice brought her to reality.
She shook her head, trying to clear her head. It had gotten a little bit foggy.
“Zeus’s lightning bolt?” Clary asked in a puzzled tone.
Annabeth rolled her eyes. “Yes. You heard what I said.”
“But that makes no sense. Why do you want to know what’s in Zeus’s lightning bolt? Weren’t you the one that thought me that lighting was made by electrical discharges in the-”
She was immediately cut off by her mother.
“Stop trying to change the subject Clare, and answer my question.” Annabeth said testily. Clare knew that she should probably fess up if she didn’t want it to turn ugly. Her mom was usually easy going, but by the way she was tapping her foot, Clare could tell that she was in a really bad mood. She wasn’t going to take any funny business right now. Clare wondered if it was something at work that put her in this awful mood. It was no secret that her mom hated her job. She didn’t try to hide it. And Clare didn’t blame her. She would hate working for the Giants too. Especially something as dull and pointless as a ancient rune investigator . Clare had asked her mom why she wouldn’t just quit. Her reply had been I love my job. I just don’t like what I’m doing the work for. All priceless artifacts that her mom found, she was required to give it to the Government. The government already had Artemis’s bow and Apollo’s Chariot.
The sound of Annabeth’s annoyance was enough to bring Clare back to Earth.
“I was you know…” Clare replied. She knew that her mother would be seriously disappointed. She had always told Clare to say away from Teen Clicks like that. That and the fact that it made fun of New York City, “portraying it as a place flooded with Self Absorbed people, who had nothing better to do with their lives than screw it up.’ In her mother’s words anyway. She approved things like The Ancient History of Greece. Things like 90210 she wrinkled her nose at.
“You were watching one of those-”Annabeth started, but she was immediately cut off by a peculiar sound.
They both turned around, already armed with their weapons. They were expecting to see a “Dracaena” or even a Cyclops, but nothing was there. The noise was coming from the TV that was situated in the middle of the living room.
It freaked Clare out.
And not because the TV was suddenly in the middle of the room. (Though it played a small part) What freaked her out was the fact that the TV seemed to be running on its own. It was humming, and whirling. As if it really was alive, that or it was trying to tune into a TV station. Which seemed even more creepy. Inanimate objects didn’t just work by themselves.[b/]
Annabeth walked toward it. She waved her hand. She beaconed for Clare to follow her example.
“Good Afternoon fellow Demi-Gods and Mortals. We bring you a special news broadcast from the Chief General himself.” The TV screen turned on, and what Clare saw was the most bizarre scene that she had ever seen. And trust me, she had seen a lot of those.
A man wearing a tied-dyed suit was staring at Clare and Annabeth from the screen. He had a golden hoop in his ear and a ring in his nose. His hair was a spikey blue and in a Mohawk. That wasn’t the most peculiar thing about his appearance though. What made him stand out was the fact that he had [b] two heads . As in two individual heads, sticking out of one body. The man seemed to be constantly leaning on one side. As if two heads was too much weight for his body to carry. It gave him an alien look. He reminded Clare of how a stereotypical Alien would look. Which was totally ridiculous to think about. Aliens didn’t exist.
Says who?. A crazy voice inside her voice asked. A few years ago we would have said the same thing about demigods…..
She shook her head. Weird thoughts could invade her mind later. She sent her focus back to the guy on the TV Screen.
He was talking in a low voice. Clare saw her mom step up to increase the volume. She noticed with concern that her mom’s arm was totally drenched with blood. She had been clutching her arm. It made more blood spill. Somewhere in the back of her head, Clare registered that blood was dripping onto the Persian Rug that coated the floor.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to fetch you the antiseptic?” Clare tried again. Yet again, her mother waved her off.
Her eyes were entirely focused on the television screen. There was pure hatred burning in her eyes. Clare had never seen her mother’s eyes that color before. It sent shivers down her spine.
“Janus.” Her mother said in a slow, steady voice. Great dislike colored the one word. A flow of emotion hit Clare like a ton of bricks.
Annabeth was clutching her palms even tighter. Blood was gushing out even more than before.
“Mom…” Clare tried again. But she hushed her.
“Pay attention to the TV.” Her mom snapped at her.
Clare blinked.
Those were the last words that Clare would ever think that her mom would say. She detested TV with a burning passion.
It ruins the minds of young children. Instead of learning about the world, they are too busy learning who cheated on whom. And who are no longer best friends. She would say anytime Clare would ask her if she could.
Then she would add, Waste of time as an afterthought.
It is my pleasure to say that we have finally uncovered the location of one of the missing Rebel Demigods. Janus said into the microphone. He had a silky, raspy voice that sounded confusing. It brought Clare back to the interview. It was completely dark outside now, but Clare could see her mother’s face clearly. It had turned a pale, pasty color.
We have found new evidence that gives us light of where she have been hiding all these years. The guy named Janus smiled down at the reporters. He was obviously enjoying the attention. Clare could tell by the way he was flexing his gross muscles.
And where might that be? A reporter asked. In your closet? She added sarcastically.
Yeah, another one agreed. You’ve been feeding us lies about how you’ve finally caught them for years. Yet, you haven’t actually caught even one….. A Caucasian male added.
The questions didn’t seem to please Janus. The smirk that he had on his face or faces had been wiped off. It was replaced by a look of annoyance and disgust. He narrowed his four eyes until they were four individual slits.
I am Janus. God of doors and decisions. Chief General of the Giants’ Army. I was the one who brought the downfall of the rebels. I was the only one capable of defeating the demigods. The giants were doing an amazing job crushing them, but they couldn’t crush their spirit. I crushed their spirits. It was [b]I who led them to their worst mistake ever. They would be fighting till this day if it wasn’t for me. I was the one who was able to witness their awful plan to destroy our beautiful future. There is no one more dedicated to putting them to justice more than I am. And there is no one more capable than me[/b]. He said these words in a voice that wasn’t more than a whisper. Yet it carried more than it would if he had just yelled.
It was dead silent. The reporters were speechless. Janus had just accomplished a task that was nearly impossible. He had silenced the reporters. A task that the best speakers could only dream of doing.
Clare had to give the guy credit. He had just done something incredible. And the god or whatever he was seemed to know it. That sick smile was plastered back on his face.
Well. The guy replied in a lighter tone of voice. Will you worthless fletchings listen to what I came here to say now ?[b]. The reporters nodded. As one body. It looked really creepy. What was creepier was that they didn’t even seem offended by what this [b]god had just called them.
A fletching . He had easily said. It was a serious insult. It was like Harry Potter and mud blood. It was a dirty name for a person that called themselves a demigod, but really wasn’t. The proper name was Legionnaire but they were occasionally called a fletching by someone particularly nasty. It was a pointless insult. If anything else. About 95% of the people on Earth were legionaries. Only five percent of true demigods remained. Chances were that whoever called you a fletching was probably one also.
So Janus was obviously not human. He used the word as a fact, not an insult. This meant two things. Either he was a god or a legitimate demigod. This was impossible. Original demigods were despised. They were hunted. The scheme that they had tried to play twenty years ago had decided their horrible fate. They were forced to hide in secret. Like rats.
The other option was that he was an god.
As soon as Clare though that, something clicked. She remembered a name that she had learnt about in Greek Mythology Class. Granted it was a hard class to take. She went to Julius Caesar’s school of redemption and forgiveness . Everything they taught was centered on Roman Life. They looked down on all things Greek. There would probably be no Greek classes, if it wasn’t a law. Which stated that every school taught at least one Greek or Roman class. It was more of a ploy though. They didn’t say that they had to teach anything good about each other. So they learnt about how Greeks were barbarians and weaklings.
(Clare didn’t think that what Greeks learnt about them was pleasant either.)
She had taken the class. Everyone had scrunched her nose at her. She had lost most of her friends because of it. But she hadn’t cared. She knew in her heart that Greeks were just as good as Romans. In fact they could be even better. And besides, her mother was Greek.
She had taken the class and loved it. She had passed the class with flying colors. Her marks had been the highest in the class. Of course she was the only one in the classroom. That might have affected the overall outcome.
She shook her head. Memories were resurfacing with her thoughts. She was trying desperately to cling to the one that affected her now. Who had Janus been?
It came to her in a rush. Janus. The god of doors and decisions. Minor god. Betrayed the gods for the giants. He was a huge key to the rebels defeat. He confused one of the lead rebels into making a choice that cost them the war. He had killed one of the demi-gods. A girl named Piper-Mclean. Daughter of Aphrodite. He would have destroyed all of them, but they received godly help at the last minute. (The gods paid dearly for getting involved at the last minute. They were locked up on Olympus) They had all fled before he could kill them all. As a result he wasn’t locked on Olympus like all the other gods. In fact the giants honor him until this day. That is why we have a statue of a two headed lion on the Plateau. The memory left as quickly as it came. Leaving Clare with the revelation that the guy was an actual god. The only one who wasn’t imprisoned on Olympus.
She refocused her attention back to him. She was extremely interested in him now. It wasn’t every day that a god spoke to the public.
We have reason to believe that we have found one of the main leaders in the rebellion. . The god leaned over. Rubbing his hands in excitement. It was obvious that this was the reason of the whole interview. He wouldn’t go on international television to say Hi to the Legionnaires. Or at least he wouldn’t. Clare assumed. He seemed to be a nasty guy that thought that Legionnaires were below him. Which of course they were.
One of our officers saw her trying to smuggle The Helm of Hades[/u ] out of our hands. It appears that she has been hiding among us all this time. Working for us. Biding her time until she could find the right opportunity to go against us. She has been really subtle about it through the years, but we have finally caught her. She put up a good fight. She claimed that the weapons of the gods weren’t for anyone but the gods themselves. She put up a good fight. We lost a few of our best Cyclopes because of her. But in the end, victory was ours. We have the helm. As it is rightfully ours. . He said this rapidly and rushed. As if he didn’t want to admit that they had trouble fighting a [b]rebel . The reporters must have sensed this. They looked like they were about to explode with a thousand questions. But they never got the chance.
He then pulled out a cloth from underneath his expensive suit. It was silky and soft. It would have been considered beautiful. If the cloth was coated with blood. From the looks of it, it was purely knew blood. Probably taken a few hours ago.
This is the token that we can share with you. The blood of a destroyer! He yelled that part. He waved the cloth around like it was truly a trophy. And not a disgusting piece of cloth. Clare heard her mother make a sound. Almost like a growl. It awoke Clare from her dream like state. She had almost forgotten that her mother was there.
“That no good god! Waving my scarf around like a trophy. Like he was the one that defeated me. As if he ever could. The only reason was that he snuck up behind me. Like the true coward he is.” She seemed to be rambling. Her eyes were still fixated on the screen. She didn’t seem to notice anything else. Not the bloody mess of her arm or the fact that Clare was standing a few inches away from her. She didn’t even seem to realize that she was rambling.
Clare really looked at her mother. She was talking as if she had personally battled Janus. As if she was the one who he was talking about….She closely examined her mother. Actually looking at her.
She realized with a start that a piece of cloth seemed to be missing from her sleeve. And she also noticed that she was wearing the same silk material that was being shown on TV. It could only mean…but before Clare could say something, Janus started talking again.
Unfortunately, she was able to escape before we truly cornered here. . Janus admitted in a regretful note. There was a long, silent pause that followed.
Annabeth snorted at that part.
But we have found out where she is hiding out. Thanks to our team of very intelligent Cyclopes. (Both Clare and her mother had snorted at the same time. What he had just said was an oxymoron.) We have deduced that she lives in Upstate Manhattan. With a sixteen year old girl. We are personally sending an army of Cyclopes’ to secure her. She is dangerous. It would take a whole army to seduce her. . He smiled a really creepy smile. It looked more like a smirk. Clare wanted to punch him in the face. Godly or not. She knew that she hated him.
He might not be talking about my mom . She thought desperately to herself.
This might all be just a coincidence. My mom isn’t a rebel. She is an archeologist. She hates the Giants, but she wouldn’t undermine them like that. She is too smart for that.
Her hope was gone.
Janus took something else out of his pocket. She thought it would be something worse. Like a finger. But it was just a small photograph. From the looks of it, very outdated. It had turned brown at the edges.
He put the picture towards the TV screen. Clare was horrified at what she saw.
It was a picture of a girl. She had honey colored curls, and startling gray eyes. She wore an expression of Don’t mess with me or you will solely regret it etched across her face. The knife that she was holding in her hands emphasized the image.
Dangerous and pretty..
And looking shockingly like her mother.
Oh my gods . Clare thought.
My mother is one of the rebels. And the Cyclopes are coming for us.
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whoa awesome post soon

this is superb! I feel the need to read more and more,so please post soon!

Lol that akward moment when you admit that you barely have any thing typed. I will be posting tuesday or wednesday....

Damn it! I typed up eight pages and my laptop totally crushed. Recovered from an "unexpected shutdown" and of course I was too busy playing Mario to Save the rest of it.
I'm sorry you guys but this is all i have.
I will be adding more to it later on Sunday. With correct grammar on it and Chapter 1, which I realized I made a l ot of mistakes on. And I apologize for that.
On other News
Rags is premiering on Nickelodeon! Is anyone as excited as I am? I've been getting tweets about it since Wednesday!!


CHAPTER 2
BURNING HOUSE
CLARE
Clare stared wide-eyed at the bottle. The slippery substance slurped lazily around the perimeter. It looked like mucus. The pale type you blow out when you have a cold.
“Where did you get this?” Clare demanded.
It was barely half a cup, yet it was worth so much trouble. If the Government found you with even a pint of this, you would be spending an eternity in Socrates. If you lived that long anyway. Legend said that anyone who was imprisoned there, were murdered by the Dracaena guards. Others turned insane. While some got eaten alive by savage Hell hounds.
Clare shuddered.
It was a horrible myth. She wanted to prove that it was false, but not by her mother being imprisoned there. There was always truth to myths. The part about the Hell hounds sounded legitimate to Clare.
“Well… You better give it back to whoever gave you this. You don’t want things like this to be in your possession. Do you mom?” She asked the last part in a question. The expression that she had seen on her mother’s face, worried her. There was a strange combination of defiance and wariness. It made her look like a soldier.
Because she was a soldier. Clare thought to herself.
She was part of the rebels who went into hiding. And now Janus has found her. She’s doomed. And so am I.Clare thought desperately. Before her brain could go into a panic, another voice spoke. This one unwelcomed.
No you aren’t. Why do you think Annabeth has the bottle?
Maybe she is doomed. But you aren’t. Annabeth will never let you suffer. It was a promise she made to me. And she will. I trust her with your life. The voice spoke.
Clare cringed. It was the same voice that always spoke to her when she wanted to be alone. It terrified her. Not because she was hearing another voice inside her head. It always spoke to her like she was its property. As if it knew her life better than she did. Especially her mom.
As if. Clare thought furiously to herself. She was pretty sure no one knew Annabeth better than herself.
Not true. The voice stated.
You barely know her. You only know her present life. You’ve never met Annabeth Chase of the past. Or even the future. The voice said slyly. It let the last part echo in her head.
Clare imagined it winking. She tried to ignore it. It was just voicing her doubts that she had about her mom since she was little. She never talked about her past or anything. Clare was too afraid to ask. Annabeth would get this dark shadow over her face. It reminded Clare of the book, “City of Bones” that she and her classmates were forced to read for Mortal literature. They had gone through it pretty fast. No one wanted to spend excess time studying Mortal books.
“I know a guy.” Was her mother’s response. It was quiet and firm. Really defiant. It brought Clare out of her stupor.
She glanced up at her mother. She expected to see some emotion written on it.
Nope.
It was as passive as ever.
“What guy?” Clare asked. Clare had always thought of her mother as a loner. She didn’t have any close friends her age. She barely hanged out with anyone.
She hangs out with Rachel Dare. She thought.
But Rachel isn’t a person. She reminded herself. At least not any more.
“Doesn’t matter. Now come over here. I need to spray you.”
Clare looked at her mother. She didn’t comprehend what she had just said. She was pretty sure this was a joke.
“Mom! This is no time to put perfume on! The army is coming for us! For you.” Clare finished nastily,
“I am fully aware of this Clare.” Her mother answered coolly.
“That’s why I’m saying come here. You’ll be making a get away with the help of this.” She raised the bottle to show what she meant.
Clare looked at her mother. She was shocked.
“You just said me. What about you?” Clare asked. Her bottom lip was trembling. This could not be happening.
She vaguely wondered if this was karma or a way for the gods to teach her a lesson. Well she had learnt it.
She would never stay late again.
“Me? I’m going to stay here and fight the army of course. You know how the Cyclopes are like. They can’t just kill me. They will go after everyone in the neighborhood. I must protect them. Especially because its my fault that the Cyclopes will be coming after them.”
“They are after me too mom! Didn’t you hear them? They know I live with you! They will hunt me down too! And they have an amazing sense of smell. They would find me in a second. Then they would kill me! I would be much safer here with you! And more useful. You know what they say. Two demigods are better than one.” Clare finished the last part in a sort of wheeze. Saying everything at once took a lot of lung energy. Something she didn’t have alof of. She hated having asthma.
“You need your inhaler again.” Annabeth said absently. She wasn’t focused on Clare. She was staring at the tiny Greek Sword that was engraved in their custom made clock.
Clare had always wondered where Annabeth had acquired it from. There was a law that banned everyday objects from having anything that replicated Greek Life. The law had been there before Clare was even born. But the clock they had attained after her fifth birthday.
Huh.
Maybe her mom did know a guy. A guy that made illegal substances banned by the government.
She had to admit it sounded pretty cool.
She vaguely wondered if her mother owned anything else that was illegal.
Before she could remember her mom started speaking again.
“What use are you if you escape?” Her mom screeched. Her eyes had turned a startling gray. Clare resisted the urge to back up and put her hands over her head.
“You would be saving innocent people’s lives! You would be starting the destiny that was foretold about you! You would be doing answering your calling!” Annabeth rambled on. But Clare wasn’t listening any longer. Her ears were buzzing as like they were being swarmed by invisible bees.
“Destiny?” Clare asked in a quiet voice. She had never heard her mother talk about her future before. It was alwaysyou choose your own destiny, whenever Clare bothered to bring the matter up.
Now she was telling Clare that she had to fulfill one that was made for her a long time ago.
Her mother was seriously contradicting herself. Which wasn’t reassuring for Clare. The one thing that she counted on was her mother’s final resolution to everything.
“What about me finding my own destiny ?” Clare continued. She used the same quiet voice.
Annabeth finally looked at Clare. There was something in her expression that Clare had never seen before. Her mother looked conflicted. Actually troubled.
“You are right. We all have the power to choose our own destiny.”
Clare blinked for probably the billionth time.
Her mother had said that she was right. That never happened. Clare wasn’t exactly the smartest. And Annabeth was definitely not the meekest.
If her facial expression was anything to go by.
Her mom looked like she had just swallowed a bug. She was glancing at the open window every few seconds. Clare knew exactly why.
We are sending the army to their location right now. Janus’s voice rang loud in her head.
She tried to tune it out as best as she could. Her mother had started talking again.
“Hey have you heard about the Legend of Percy Jackson? “ Her mother said.
Clare raised her eyebrows.
Who hadn’t heard of it?
Before Clare could say duh of course, there was a huge crash.
Clare and her mother turned.
Somebody or something had just smashed the window pane in the living room.
Shards of huge glass flew everywhere .
Clare tried as hard as she could to avoid the pieces of debris. But there was still a lucky bruise on her right cheek.
“They came sooner than I expected.” Her mom muttered. Clare turned to find her mother right next to her. It made her feel better. She had thought she was being a wimp. Hiding behind the sofa and all.
Clare looked at where her mother was pointing. Sure enough something was climbing their now broken window.
Clare squinted. She immediately wished she hadn’t.
There was a hand . It was huge and gross. With scars arranged around it in disarray. Blood was dripping down from it. The blood looked sickeningly warm too.

This is AMAZING!!!

Can just a few more people comment before I post the official Chapter 2?
it feels so empty here
and Thanks
JJ it means alot to me that someone likes it:)

I would've commented soon - but I couldn't get my hands on the computer,Awesome chapter!!!!!!!