December 14th in New York City was a day that would be described as cold and jolly. People were about enjoying their holidays while battling the weathers everyone was busy doing Christmas shopping and, as such no one paid attention to one Sally Jackson.

Said woman was pregnant with the child of a god, although no one could say that what with her being only one month pregnant. Sally Jackson carried out her business hoping to keep the attention of unsavoury characters away from her. The father of her child had warned her to keep a low profile as even bearing the child of a big three could bring the attention of monsters to her.

Sally looked around to see if anyone suspicious was around her, everyone seemed normal and were involved in their own life. She then noticed the man. He was tall and thin wearing medieval robes; with unruly black hair and a clean boyish face. He was wearing round thin rimmed glasses and had emerald green eyes that seem to bore into her.

Sally turned around and slowly walked to the end of the street. After turning around, she ran as fast as she could and ducked into an alley. As she ran she looked behind her to see if the man was following her to find an empty alley.

Feeling relieved, she turned around to see a humanoid females with twin serpent trunks instead of legs; a Scythian dracanae. "Oh gods, what a fool have I been? Bringing myself and my child to our doom"

"You bear a child of the godssssss" the dragon woman hissed pointing at Sally who backed away slowly "please don't hurt us" Sally pleaded but her cries fell to deaf ears Sally crouched as the dracanae prepared to pounce on her, but just then, a beam of light hit the dracanae and she exploded into dust.

Sally turned around to see where the light had come from and saw the robed man she was running away from standing there. "Hi!" the man said moody and awkwardly like an emo teenager would on a first date "can we talk?"

Sally nodded hesitantly and the man began, focusing on anything around him except her "Look; firstly I'm not a monster. I'm a wizard, a magician from another dimension and one of the last of my kind... well actually, now I am the last of my kind"

He turned to the pregnant woman to see her mildly horrified expression "too much?" he asked to which Sally nodded but the man brushed it off "anyways I'm here to give you an offer that will benefit both of us"

"What offer?" Sally asked and the man smiled and continued "I will protect you and your child until he is eleven, and then I will protect him till he reaches camp half blood, I will only protect him till he is eleven because after he reaches the camp, he will need to learn how to defend himself"

Sally sighed unhappily accepting the fact that her child will have to go to the camp eventually "what do you want in return?" she asked the spectacled man who turned serious and answered "I will fuse the foetus inside of you with the soul of my friend"

"What? Why?" Sally demanded backing away from the man. Said man answered "when me and a few of my kind came to this dimension, we realised we had to fight the various monsters no one else could see and evil following us from our dimension. All of my kind has died, most because of natural causes, though a few have died in battle. The souls of my kind either disappeared into the ether or were reborn as regular humans here. As my friend was dying he told me that in his new life, he wanted to make a difference, he wanted to be a hero. I'm only trying to fulfil my friend's wishes"

Sally felt slightly sympathetic towards the man after hearing his tragic story "he must have been a good friend" the man nodded smiling slightly "he was my first friend... and my last friend"

"How will this affect my son?" Sally asked the man who looked thoughtful "your son will have reddish hair and will have a short temper, he will also be quite good at chess though he may be a bit of a trouble maker... actually he'll be a hell of a trouble maker, he'll also have..." Sally cut of the man "all that is fine, what I want to know is how will it affect his godly side?"

"It will amplify his godly abilities and make him more powerful; they may also give him a few new abilities and allow him to learn skills not inherited from Poseidon." Sally didn't seem to sure but the man seemed to be genuine about his deal "very well" Sally agreed after mulling over it for a few minutes while the man stared around, bored.

The man smiled and pulled out a bottle from his robes, it held a glowing bluish/whitish orb that seemed to be made of pure light, and which Sally was sure, was the soul. The man silently opened the bottle and let the soul hover above his hand; he then slowly pushed the soul against her belly till the soul entered her.

"I don't feel any different" Sally said making the man chuckle "you won't, but it's done, also I'll be transferring all of my money to your account" he raised his hand as Sally was about to protest "I know you won't need it but it's actually for my friend, when he grew up, he was poor. I want him to be able to get whatever he wants this time around, also never tell him anything about me or the gods." the man walked to the edge of the alley before turning around

"What now? Sally demanded angrily "Ronald Weasley Jackson" the man said "that will be his name" "Wait!" Sally called as the man was about to turn around "what is your name?"

The man smirked "Potter, Harry Potter" saying this, the man disappeared into thin air, leaving Sally Jackson staring

XXXXXXX

"Ron!" the redhead was called by his best friend "where did you sneak off to last night?" he asked nervously. Grover was Ron's best friend. He was a tall, scrawny kid, just an inch short of Ron's 5'5. He had curly brown hair and a slight wispy beard; he was also disabled with some sort of muscular disease on his legs and needed crutches to walk around.

"I was with Elizabeth Ellis, the class valedictorian, in her room" Ron winked at Grover who laughed "why is it that a slacker like you is attracted to the smartest of girls and they for some reason seem to like you right back"

"It's a gift man" Ron told him "and I love it" their conversation was interrupted by chunks of a PB and J sandwich thrown towards Grover Ron turned around to see a laughing Nancy Bobofit "that bitch" he hissed

"Don't do anything" Grover told him "Mrs. Dodds is just looking for a reason to kill you" but as Grover felt another bit of Nancy's lunch hit him, he knew it was in vain. Ron had always had a temper and ferocity to match.

When the school year had started and the two boys had met for the first time, Grover was being pushed around by some seventh graders, Ron had gotten into a fight with them and the two boys had gotten beaten up.

"Why do you insist on fighting?" Grover had demanded from him then "you could die like this" Ron had wiped the blood off his face and said "better to die with a roar than to live with a squeak" since then the two of them had been best friends.

Grover watched helplessly as Ron got up and, loudly, called Nancy things no twelve year old should know about, at the end of his triad a voice called out "honey"

And thus Ron was forced to spend the rest of the bus ride beside Mrs. Dodds the little math teacher from Georgia who always wore a black leather jacket, even though she was fifty years old. She looked mean enough to ride a Harley right into your locker. Ron once told Grover that he didn't think she was human and Grover agreed to him with a serious look on his face.

When they reached the museum Mr. Brunner, their wheelchair bound history teacher led the tour. Mr. Brunner was Ron's favourite teacher but he pushed Ron too hard. Ron suffered from ADHD and dyslexia. It was a miracle that he was able to even pass any of his classes, but Mr. Brunner wanted him to excel at his class.

When they broke up for lunch Grover and Ron decided to sit in the courtyard in front of the fountain. Grover saw Ron give the city a wistful look and said "she'd be sad" referring to Sally Jackson, Grover always seemed to know what Ron was thinking about.

Suddenly Nancy Bobofit was standing in front of them "ooh, look at the two boyfriends being all romantic" she sneered, the next thing I knew was that she was thrashing around in the fountain. "Ron pushed me" she screamed

Mrs. Dodds materialized next to them with some of the kids were whispering:

"Did you see-"
"-the water-"
"-like it grabbed her-"

"Come with me honey" she told Ron who sighed as he followed her into the museum, into the Greek and Roman section, where they were alone with no one around.

"You've been giving us problems, honey" Mrs. Dodds said her arms crossed in front of her, Ron did the safe thing and said, "Yes, ma'am" She tugged on the cuffs of her leather jacket. "Did you really think you would get away with it?"

Ron briefly went over what Mrs. Dodds could have learnt. There was his illegal candy stash which he sold to other kids; there was his Tom Sawyer essay which he copied off the internet and his late night visit to Elizabeth Ellis the previous night.

"I'll try harder!" Ron tried again wondering what he had been caught for and how she would punish him, the look in her eyes was beyond mad, it was evil.

"We are not fools Jackson, confess and we will forgive you" Mrs. Dodds growled, but Ron got the feeling that she was talking about something else entirely.

"Ma'am I don't..."

"Your time is up" she hissed

Then the weirdest thing happened, her eyes began to glow, her fingers turned into talons and her jacket melted into two large leathery wings. Ron found it hard to decide which one was the weirdest thing that happened.

Suddenly Mr. Brunner appeared reeling in his wheelchair "what ho Ron!" he threw him a ballpoint pen, which transformed mid air into a bronze sword. Ron didn't have time to think, wonder r marvel. Mrs. Dodds was flying towards him so Ron did the only thing that came to him, he swung the sword.

Mrs. Dodds turned to golden dust as the sword massed through her like she was made of water. Ron stared at the pile of dust as it slowly dispersed into the air, Ron then realised he was all alone and walked out of the museum.

"Ah Mr. Jackson" Mr. Brunner rode his chair in front of Ron "can I please have my pen back? And next time, do bring your own writing utensils" Ron handed back the sword-in-a-pen as he had named it, to Mr. Brunner and asked "what happened to Mrs. Dodds?"

"Mr. Jackson" Mr. Brunner looked confused "there is no Mrs. Dodds"

XXXXXXX

The rest of the school year was quite surreal for Ron. Everyone was convinced that Mrs. Kerr, a perky blonde teacher, had been their math teacher since Christmas, well everyone except Grover who Ron could tell knew Mrs. Dodds but for some reason pretended he didn't.

On the other hand, Ron was struggling through his classes, he was able to pass, but barely and he was never able to pay attention in classes for more than five seconds. Ron was prepared to fail all his exams before reconsidering and deciding to ask Mr. Brunner for help. That's when shit got weird.

Ron walked to the faculty's office and saw that the door to Mr. Brunner's office was slightly ajar; he then heard Grover's voice "Worried about Ron, sir?"

Ron froze and crept forward silently "... Alone this summer" Grover was saying. "I mean, a Kindly One in the school! Now that we know for sure, and they know too."

"We would only make matters worse by rushing him" Mr. Brunner said "We need the boy to mature more"

"But he may not have time" Grover pointed out "The summer solstice deadline..." "...Will have to be resolved without him, Grover, let him enjoy his ignorance while he still can"

"Sir, he saw her..."Grover began but was cut off "His imagination" Mr. Brunner insisted. "The Mist over the students and staff will be enough to convince him of that"

"Sir, I...I can't fail in my duties again" Grover's voice was choked with emotion. "You know what that would mean"

"You haven't failed, Grover" Mr. Brunner said kindly "I should have seen her for what she was. Now let's just worry about keeping Ron alive until next fall-" Ron silently walked away, his mind reeling with confusion

Ron was able to survive his exams and he was sure he would pass in all of them, an achievement all in itself, and before he knew it, he and Grover were boarding the same greyhound to take them to Manhattan.

Ron hadn't felt right ever since he had eavesdropped on Grover and the professor, hearing their conversation game him the feeling that something was up. Shit got even weirder when their bus had broken down and they were stranded in the middle of nowhere where Ron saw three old ladies knitting a sock for Bigfoot and one of them cut a string of yarn for which Ron could hear the snap even across the motorway, after which Grover handed him the card to his summer address called Half-Blood hill, weirdest name Ron ever heard; and that included a huge Black Mastiff Dog named 'Snuffles'.

When they reached the bus terminal Grover went to use the bathroom as Ron exited the bus terminal and walked towards a BMW waiting by the roadside. "Hey Paul" Ron greeted Paul Blofis his stepfather as he threw his stepfather whom his mother had met in college.

"Hello to you too Ron" Paul laughed as Grover hurried out of the terminal and towards Ron "Paul, meet my friend Grover" he introduced and then turned to his friend "and this" he gestured to Paul "is my stepfather"

"Nice ride Mr. Blofis" Grover complemented the BMW 5 series "it's actually a gift from Sally" Paul told Grover as he climbed into the back seat.

Sally Jackson had inherited a fortune from a friend at the same time Ron had been born and had made investments in certain companies making her some sort of reclusive millionaire/novelist. She had also decided to purchase homes and cars throughout America. Right now they were heading towards a penthouse condo in upper west side.

Once reaching home Ron turned red as Grover looked at the other cars they had. For some reason, Ron felt embarrassed when people saw the stuff their family had, his mother told him it was his most adorable habit even with the 'unorthodoxly smart' (failing classes) and 'standing up for the weak' (violent behaviour).

They then went into the huge penthouse where Ron's mom was waiting by the dining table typing away on her laptop. Ron's mother could make him feel good just by walking into the room. Her eyes sparkled and changed colour in the light. Her smile was as warm as a quilt. She was also one of the few people capable of making Ron feel bad about his violence and bad marks unintentionally with how nice she was even after he was being hard.

"Ron!" she got up and hugged him as Ron turned red and muttered about embarrassing him in front of Grover whom he introduced to his mother. "Hello Grover" she greeted him, Ron felt some sort of hesitancy from his mother "have a Cookie" she held out a plate of blue cookies "score!" Ron grinned and helped himself with a fistful of cookies; getting reprimanded about being rude.

"Now Ron!" Sally turned back to her son "tell me everything about what happened at your school" Ron began telling his mother about all that had happened, leaving out the bad parts and exaggerating the good ones.

"You've grown so much" Sally ruffled Ron's hair making him go all red again. "Um Ron, Mrs. Jackson, I need to tell you guys something" Grover said looking serious and much more older than his twelve years.

"I know Grover" Ron's mother said confusing him "um what's going on?" Ron asked looking at Paul who looked equally confused; "Ron" Sally looked pained "your father was a Greek god"

There was a bit of silence as Sally and Grover stared at Ron who was looking at them and Paul for any hidden smiles or other giveaways "Not funny mom!" Ron laughed but his laughter died when he realised he was the only one laughing

"Sally what is going on?" Paul asked but it was Grover who answered "allow me to show you, that this isn't some joke" and then Grover proceeded to take off his pants to reveal a pair of cloven hooves.

"You're part donkey?" Ron asked in shock and was rewarded with the other three face palming.

XXXXXXX

"So... the Greek myths are real?"

"Yes, they are"

"And demigods are real?"

"Correct again"

"And I'm the child of a Greek god?"

"Three times the charm"

"And you'll be putting your pants back on?"

"No! Actually"

"Dude!" Ron complained to which Grover pulled up his pants and put on his fake feet "you're welcome" Grover told Ron who rolled his eyes.

"So who is my godly parent? How does Mr. Brunner fit into this? What exactly is this camp half-blood? Why do I have to go there? And why the hell are you eating a can?"

"There are too many questions and too little time" Grover bleated "We have to get to safety"

"Safety from what?" Ron demanded to which Grover answered "oh just the lord of the dead and a few of his bloodthirsty minions"

"Grover!"

"Sorry Mrs. Jackson, but we really need to leave, Ron's smell has amplified due to him knowing the truth and monsters will be coming here soon. I suggest you two leave as well"

"Wait a minute, why can't mom and Paul come with us?" Ron demanded to which Sally answered "mortals can't enter the camp, me and Paul will be in our villa in Miami Beach if you need us" the two adults quickly gathered their essential belongings as the two kids already had packed bags and the foursome travelled down to the garage.

"We'll be taking the Dodge" Ron informed his parents gesturing towards the metallic blue Dodge Viper GTS coupe; it was his favourite one out of all the ones his parents had. "You don't know how to drive" Paul pointed out making Ron smirk at him

"Kids at boarding schools tend to know things they shouldn't" Grover added as they loaded their bags into the Dodge and sat in and the adults did the same with the BMW.

"y'know" Grover said "you've given me a lot of trouble through the year with protecting you, with the teachers and everything" Ron shrugged "sorry man!" Grover grinned evilly and said "don't be"

Grover then opened the window and gestured for Paul to do the same "Mrs. Jackson" he called making Ron uneasy "yes Grover?" Sally asked leaning across her passenger seat. "Ron spent an entire night with a girl in her room during the school year"

Ron hit the gas and shot the car out of the garage but still heard a yell of "RONALD WEASLEY JACKSON"

"Not cool man" Ron complained as Grover laughed "not cool at all"

XXXXXXX

The two boys drove on towards Long Island as Grover explained everything to Ron, the gods, their offspring's, the monsters, the camp he explained all that he could. How the gods were real, demigods were their kids, everything!

As they neared their destination the weather seemed to get worse and the light seemed to be dying, Grover seemed to get more and more anxious and kept urging Ron to go faster, till all of a sudden their car was in the air and upside down.

"G-man!" Ron called out and was rewarded with a moaning "I hurt my leg...we're almost there" Grover groaned and pointed towards the nearest hill "you see that tree?" there was a flash of lightning and Ron was able to see a huge Christmas sized pine tree on the crest of the hill.

"That's the property line, you need to cross it to reach safety there's a big farmhouse there, go there and ask for help"

"Sure thing" Ron said and began dragging Grover out "leave me behind" Grover insisted "I don't take orders from you" Ron snapped back, he looked behind them to see, almost a hundred feet away, a huge hulking man, built like a wrestler and a helmet with horns on his head. Ron helped Grover as the two of them made their way to the big tree.

Ron glanced back and got his first good look at the monster. He was seven feet tall, his arms and legs were like something from the cover of Muscle Man magazine-bulging biceps and triceps and a bunch of other 'ceps, all stuffed like baseballs under vein-webbed skin. He wore no clothes except underwear which was a bright white Fruit of the Looms all of which would've looked funny, except that the top half of his body was covered in Coarse brown hair that started at about his belly button and got thicker as it reached his shoulders.

His neck was a mass of muscle and fur leading up to his enormous head, which had a snout as long as my arm, snotty nostrils with a gleaming brass ring, cruel black eyes, and horns-enormous black-and- white horns with points you just couldn't get from an electric sharpener.

"That's..." Ron began but was cut off by Grover "Pasiphae's son. I wish I'd known how badly they want to kill you"

"But that's the..." again Grover cut off Ron "don't say his name. Names have power" they continued to struggle up the slope but the tree was still too far away, a hundred yards at least.

The bull-man began sniffing the car "his sight and hearing are terrible" Grover explained before Ron could ask "he'll soon know we're not in the car" and sure enough the bull-man picked up and threw the car like a child throwing a tantrum as the car fell and exploded.

"Not the viper" Ron moaned and Grover gave him a look that said get your priorities straight. "When he sees us, he'll charge. Wait until the last second, then jump out of the way; directly sideways. He can't change directions very well once he's charging. Do you understand?"

"Yeah man" Ron answered. The bull man began charging uphill towards them. Grover's foot was hurt badly but he still put it down and separated from Ron. "Remember, jump sideways"

Bull-man charged, his horn aimed at Ron's chest. The fear in Ron made him want to run, but he held his ground till the last moment and then jumped sideways. The Bull-man bellowed in anger, on then saw that Grover had been knocked out, probably because he was too late to jump due to his wounded foot.

"Shit!" Ron swore as the Bull-man reared to charge again, but this time he held out his arms to prevent Ron from jumping away. Time seemed to slow down as Ron tensed the creature rushed forward and at the last second, Ron jumped forward and used the Bull's head as springboard and jumped up, changing direction in mid air, he landed on the back of the monster with his arms around his neck. How he did that, he had no idea.

The monster shook around like a rodeo bull, trying to throw Ron off his back but couldn't, Ron grit his teeth seeing the creature sniff in the direction of Grover. He grabbed a single horn and pulled at it with all his might.

The horn broke free throwing Ron off the creatures back, Ron landed with a thump dizzy and with blurry vision, he heard the monster roar and as the monster charged at him, Ron let instinct take over, he rolled to the side and just as the monster was upon him, Ron drove the horn into its chest. The Minotaur bellowed and pawed at his chest as he slowly crumbled to dust.

The monster was gone.

The rain had stopped. The storm still rumbled, but only in the distance. Ron smelled like livestock and his knees were shaking but he managed to haul Grover up and staggered down into the valley, toward the lights of the farm-house.

He was barely able to make it to the wooden porch when the door opened and a familiar face appeared followed by a beautiful blonde girl who was bent down to lock eyes with a crawling Ron

"He's the one" she said "he must be"

"Silence child! He's conscious. Bring him inside"

XXXXXXX

Ron had the weirdest dream

"Are you really Harry Potter?" he asked a boy with black hair and green eyes

"My toad!" a round faced boy held up his pet

"The ceiling is jinxed to look like the sky" a girl with nutmeg brown, bushy hair said to him

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The next thing Ron knew, he was awake and lying on a soft bed where the blonde girl from before was feeding him something that tasted like buttered popcorn. She saw that Ron's eyes were open and asked "what happened in the summer solstice?"

"What?" Ron croaked

She looked around; as if afraid someone would over-hear "What's going on? What was stolen? We've only got a few weeks!"

"No idea what you're talking about" Ron groaned before falling asleep again.

Ron had a vivid dream.

It was storming on the beach, and two beautiful animals, a white horse and a golden eagle, were trying to kill each other at the edge of the surf. The eagle swooped down and slashed the horse's muzzle with its huge talons. The horse reared up and kicked at the eagles wings. As they fought, the ground rumbled, and a monstrous voice chuckled somewhere beneath the earth, goading the animals to fight harder.

Ron ran toward them, knowing he had to stop them from killing each other, but he was running in slow motion. He knew he could never make it. He saw the eagle dive down, its beak aimed at the horse's wide eyes, and screamed, "NO!"

And the dream ended

Ron continued to fade in and out of consciousness for a time period he couldn't keep track of. When he finally woke up for good he realised he was alone. He was sitting in a deck chair on a huge porch, gazing across a meadow at green hills in the distance. The breeze smelled like strawberries. There was a blanket over his legs, a pillow behind his neck, but my mouth felt like a scorpion had been using it for a nest. His tongue was dry and nasty and every one of my teeth hurt.

Ron saw a tall drink next to him that looked like iced apple tea, he almost dropped it due to his weakness when a familiar voice said "careful"

"Grover" Ron grinned "glad to see you're alive" Grover gave a bleated laugh and placed a shoebox with the Minotaur horn on Ron's lap. "What happened?" Ron asked to which Grover answered "you saved my life man!"

Grover helped Ron finish the drink which coincidentally tasted like the cookies his mother baked. Grover hen led him around to the back of the farmhouse. The place was a valley filled with kids of all ages and satyrs, all wearing bright orange t-shirts.

Grover led him to a table where two people were seated and the blonde girl was leaning by the side.

The guy in front of Ron was average in size; he had curly black hair that seemed almost purple. He would've fitted right into some gambling den with his Hawaiian leopard print shirt, but Ron got the feeling he could've out gambled Stu Unger himself.

"That's Mr. D the camp director" he then gestured to the blonde girl "that's Annabeth, the oldest camper here, and you already know Chiron..."

"Mr. Brunner" Ron nodded towards his former Latin teacher

"Ron!" Mr. Brunner smiled "now we have four for pinochle" the wheelchair bound man offered a chair to Ron beside Mr. D who said "oh I suppose I have to say it. Welcome to camp half blood and all that. There, now don't expect me to be glad to see you" "um thanks" Ron said scooting a little away from the alcoholic.

"Annabeth?" Mr. Brunner called to the blond girl.

She came forward and Mr. Brunner introduced us. "This young lady nursed you back to health, Ron, Annabeth, my dear, why don't you go check on Ron's bunk? We'll be putting him in cabin eleven for now"

Annabeth said, "Sure, Chiron" she was of Ron's age and just a few inches shorter. She looked like a surfing Californian girl with her blonde hair and honey toned skin. Except her eyes ruined the image, they were a stormy gray and looked intimidating, like they were analysing how to take Ron down in a fight.

After she left Grover sat down with them to play pinochle and Mr. D eyed Ron suspiciously and asked "do you know how to play pinochle?"

"I'm afraid not" Ron answered casually

"I'm afraid not sir!" Mr. D emphasised

"No need to call me sir professor" the words were out of Ron's mouth before he knew it

Chiron and Grover stared at him as if he had grown two heads while Mr. D looked confused "professor?" he asked amusedly "that's a new one, professor D, I like the sound of that"

He waved his hand making a wine glass appear

"Mr. D" Chiron warned him "your restrictions"

Mr. D looked at the wine and feigned surprise "Dear me" He looked at the sky and yelled "Old habits! Sorry!"

There was more thunder as Mr. D waved his hand again, and the wineglass changed into a fresh can of Diet Coke. He sighed unhappily, popped the top of the soda, and went back to his card game.

Chiron winked at Ron "Mr. D offended his father a while back, took a fancy to a wood nymph who had been declared off-limits"

"A wood nymph" Ron repeated, still staring at the Diet Coke can like it was from outer space.

"Yes" Mr. D confessed "Father loves to punish me. The first time, Prohibition, ghastly! Absolutely horrid ten years! The second time-well, she really was pretty, and I couldn't stay away the second time, he sent me here, Half-Blood Hill. Summer camp for brats like you 'Be a better influence' he told me 'Work with youths rather than tearing them down' Ha Absolutely unfair"

Mr. D sounded about six years old, like a pouting little kid. "And ... your father is ..." Ron stammered

"Di immortales, Chiron" Mr. D said "I thought you taught this boy the basics. My father is Zeus, of course."

They played in silence as Ron realised Mr. D was Dionysus the god of wine and partying. He didn't look anything much, but Grover had told him that gods tended to look like humans until they were pissed when a fire seemed to light in their eyes. Soon enough Chiron won and Mr. D led Grover away from some evaluation of his performance.

"Will he be okay?" Ron asked Chiron worriedly to which Chiron nodded, though he looked a bit troubled. "Old Dionysus isn't really mad. He just hates his job. He's been ... Ah, grounded, I guess you would say, and he can't stand waiting another century before he's allowed to go back to Olympus."

"The one on top of the empire state building?" Ron asked to which Chiron nodded "what all did Grover tell you?" Ron shrugged "some stuff about how gods are real, move with the west western civilization is a collection of ideas, etc."

"Very well" Chiron said "saves me a lot of trouble" and then he rose from the chair with the torso of a man attached to the body of a white stallion. "You're a horse" Ron said with a surreal look on his face

"A centaur" Chiron corrected "you into astronomy?" Ron asked out of the blue confusing Chiron "I guess" the centaur answered "Ron spotted a Pegasus flying away" and pointed at it

"Would you do that one?" he asked Chiron who raised an eyebrow "firstly that's a male..." "I'm not judging" Ron interrupted "...secondly I'm not into horses"

"Their loss" Ron joked making Chiron chuckle when

something caught his eye, a shadow in the uppermost window of the attic gable. Something had moved the curtain, just for a second, and Ron got the feeling he was being watched. "What's up there?"

Chiron looked where Ron was pointing, and his smile faded. "Just the attic"

"Somebody lives there?" Ron asked

"No" he said with finality "Not a single living thing"
"Come along, Ron" Chiron said, his light hearted tone now a little forced. "Lots to see"

Chiron showed Ron around the camp. The strawberry fields, the woods, the archery range, javelin range, stables, amphitheatre, arena, dining pavilions and finally he was shown the cabins. Twelve buildings that looked nothing alike and all facing a common area the size of a soccer field, dotted with Greek statues, fountains, flower beds, and a couple of basketball hoops (which were right up Ron's alley).

In the centre of the field was a huge stone-lined fire pit. Even though it was a warm afternoon, the hearth smouldered. A girl about nine years old was tending the flames, poking the coals with a stick. Ron decided to approach the girl "why are you tending the flames in a warm afternoon?"

The girl looked up at Ron and smiled "the hearth is the symbol of home, I am here to tend to the flames to give light to this home" the girl was of nine years old with red hair wearing a simple brown dress. "Who are you?" Ron asked backing away, he looked around to see that no one was there. The place was completely deserted.

"I am Hestia, goddess of hearth, home and family. I am the last Olympian" Ron blinked and without thinking said "I thought you gave your seat to Mr. D"

"I did" Hestia nodded "it was for the best" Ron took the information in "so... what else?" Ron didn't really know what to talk to a god about.

"Aren't you a fantastic conversationalist" Hestia said making Ron laugh, he knelt down to look her in the yes which were a smouldering brown and looking into them seriously, he asked "are you always this small?"

Hestia chuckled and in a flash of light, changed her form making Ron stand up. She now looked the same age as him with beautiful red hair that reached her waist and peachy skin with a golden hue to it.

"Is this form better?" Hestia jokingly asked Ron who simply said "wow! You're beautiful" she giggled and said "straight to the point, just like he said" Ron's eyes narrowed at this sentence

"Who said?" he asked the goddess who answered "a mutual friend. He also wanted me to give you this" suddenly a coat appeared in her hands which she gave to Ron. The coat was stiff, but seemed to be made of some sort of silvery cloth.

"It's nice" Ron said putting on the coat and buttoned it, it was an overcoat that stopped just above his knees. Ron looked at his arms to see that they weren't there "bloody hell!" Ron said as he looked down to see nothing

"Buttoning the coat makes you invisible" Hestia said making Ron reply sarcastically "I hadn't noticed"

Ron took of the coat and observed it "Ronald" Hestia said, instantly getting Ron's undivided attention. His full name always got his attention especially when used by people who shouldn't know it "I expect a lot of things from you" Hestia said giving him a kiss on the forehead "best of luck"

Ron blushed and looked down at the jacket to distract himself. He then noticed a symbol on the left chest, it was a triangle with a circle in it and a line in the middle "hey what does this symbol mean?" he asked looking up to see that Hestia had vanished.

"Ron" a voice called making the redhead turn around to see Annabeth "Chiron had to go to teach masters archery class, I'm supposed to show you to cabin eleven" Ron nodded and followed Annabeth to an old cabin that looked completely regular except for a caduceus over the doorway.

Inside Ron was introduced as an undetermined, whatever that meant made everybody groan except for a guy who was Ron's new councillor and Ron was sure; Annabeth's crush. Luke looked to be about nineteen, tall and muscular with sandy hair, orange t-shirt, leather sandals and a necklace with five different beads on them. The only unsettling thing about him was a thick white scar that ran from below his right eye to his jaw.

"Heya Luke" Ron grinned at him "nice to meet ya" Luke grinned right back at him "you seem like a right little ray of sunshine" Ron shrugged and asked "so I'll be staying here?"

"Yes!" Annabeth told him from behind "for how long?" Ron asked to which she answered until you get claimed Ron remembered what Grover had said to him "that might never happen, right?" there was a murmur following his statement followed by an air of defeat. "Ron, let me show you the volleyball court" Annabeth dragged Ron away.

"Look!" she turned to him "almost everybody in that cabin is waiting for some sign, from their godly parent, you can't just kill their hopes like that; it wound send them spiralling into depression" before Ron could say anything a new voice came up

"Well! A newbie"

Ron recognised the girl from cabin five. She was big and even a toddler could tell she was a fitness buff. Her brown hair was tied to a ponytail and she was followed by other girls, all wearing camo jackets.

"Clarisse" Annabeth sighed "why don't you go sharpen your spear or something"

"Sure thing princess" Clarisse sneered "so that I can run it through you Friday night"

Annabeth then swore in ancient Greek which Ron translated as "eat the crows" but he was sure it meant something else entirely. "You don't stand a chance"

Clarisse then set her eyes on Ron "who's the little runt?"

"Ron Jackson" Annabeth said "meet Clarisse, daughter of Ares" Ron blinked at the introduction "like the war god?

"That's right kid" Clarisse sneered "got a problem?"

"No" Ron said but his tone may have conveyed something different because Clarisse growled "we got an initiation ceremony for newbies Rob"

"Ron" Ron corrected her to which Clarisse replied "whatever. Come on I'll show you"

"Clarisse..." Annabeth tried to say something but was cut off with a "stay out of it wise girl"

Ron himself got ready for a fight but before he knew it, Clarisse had him by the scruff of his neck and was pulling him towards the bathrooms. Ron began kicking, kneeing, elbowing and punching. It took the combined strength of Clarisse and two others to hold Ron down.

Clarisse dragged Ron towards the chamber pots as Ron wondered why the gods couldn't afford better toilets. "Like he's big three material" Clarisse pushed Ron towards the toilet "the Minotaur probably died laughing"

Ron saw Annabeth watch from the side from between her fingers. Clarisse tried to push Ron's head down the toilet and Ron snapped.

He felt a pull in his gut as water rushed out of the toilet and hit Clarisse; making a clean arc over Ron's head. The water continued to shoot out like a hose pushing Clarisse down on her but. He sisters came forward to help her but immediately water started to blast out from everywhere. Every toilet, every showerhead, every washbasin; shot water towards the girls, spinning them around before finally floating them out of the bathroom.

Ron felt the tug in his gut lessen and the water died. Even Annabeth hadn't been spared, she was dripping wet, Ron then realised that he was completely dry, sitting in a circular dry spot on the ground in the completely we bathroom.

Ron shakily got back to his feet. Annabeth asked "how did you..."

"I have no idea" Ron answered flabbergasted

They went outside where Clarisse glared at Ron "you are dead new boy! Dead!"

Ron answered with a "go gargle with toilet water shithead" as Clarisse's cabin mates dragged her back; Annabeth was looking at Ron weirdly

"What?" Ron demanded defensively

"I'm thinking" she answered "I want you on my team for capture the flag"

XXXXXXX

The next few days were quite normal for Ron, ignoring the fact that he was being taught by satyrs, nymphs and a centaur of course.

Every morning he had to learn ancient Greek with Annabeth, then go through a bunch of outdoor activities which were bizarre and varied from catastrophic to good.

Archery: shot Chiron's tail

Foot racing: barely able to keep up with nymph in tree form

Wrestling: able to hold himself against Clarisse but only for a few minutes

Canoeing: very good at

Chess: able to beat everyone, even the Athena kids, except for Chiron.

No one was able to make out who he was a child of, Luke suggested he may be a son of Hermes but Ron was sure that was just to give him hope.

Then came his first sword fighting class, Ron was paired with Luke and was struggling to keep up with him "keep your guard up" Luke would say and then wham Ron with the side of his blade "not that up" wham "lunge" wham "now back" wham

Ron was in pieces by the time Luke called for a break. Ron saw as everybody drank water and rested and then noticed Luke pour cold water on his face which seemed like a good idea.

Ron imitated him and was rewarded with an energising feeling. Luke then gathered everyone around and used Ron to give a demonstration of a disarming technique. He demonstrated the move in slow motion and the blade fell off Ron's hand. Luke then started a spar, and surprisingly Ron was able to keep up with him, but Luke had sensed Ron's reflexes and was pressing him with more force as Ron began to grow weaker

"Now or never" Ron thought and used the move, putting his body weight to it till 'clang!' the blade fell out of Luke's hands. "I wonder if that was a good idea" Ron thought as the whole arena was silent.

The next day, Ron was exited for capture the flag. It started after dinner, where Athena had armed themselves with Hermes and Apollo and Ares with everyone else, but unfortunately for Ron, he was sitting on border patrol.

Ron was stationed by the creek as Annabeth had made him. It was a warm sticky night and Ron was glad he didn't have to run around holding his NBA backboard sized shield.

Once the conch horn blew and the fighting started did Ron wish he was in the middle of things. Suddenly he felt a presence and raised his shield. Ron heard a growl but the silence following it was what made him uneasy.

Suddenly the bush exploded and five Ares kids rushed out "where's the punk?" Clarisse screamed "you told me he'd be on border patrol" Ron thanked his lucky stars that he had decided to use his coat and stay invisible.

Ron slammed the first Ares kid with the flat of his sword, sending him sprawling. "He's invisible" Clarisse shouted "that damn princess gave him her cap" Ron showed great tactical sense by saying "what? What cap?" immediately the Ares kids began attacking in the direction of the voice.

Ron backed off parrying the attacks of the Ares kids and being electrocuted by Clarisse, he was also running out of space to back to until finally Clarisse gave him a very powerful electric jab, wounding him on the arm and sending him splashing into the creek.

Ron struggled to stay afloat with his heavy armour while the Ares kids laughed at him, but falling in the water, Ron felt adrenaline pump through his body, he felt like he could take on a hundred Ares cabin mates.

Clarisse and her posse advanced towards the creek but Ron was ready. He slammed his sword on the helmet of the first minion knocking it off his head and sending him down dizzy from the vibration. Minion's two and three advanced towards Ron who struck the blade against one's armour and sent him down and then kicked another's bent knee making him fall down in pain.

Minion four seemed to hesitate in attacking him and Ron slammed the shield in his face, but Clarisse refused to back down, she kept coming at Ron till he caught her spear between his sword and shield and snapped it like a twig

"AH! Fuck you, you asshole" she shouted but then more screams started to come from the woods as Luke burst forth carrying the banner, flanked by other Hermes and Apollo kids. Luke crossed the boundary line and the flag magically changed to a silver banner with a caduceus.

"a trick" Clarisse growled "it was all a trick"

Ron was about to join in when a voice said "not bad hero" as Annabeth shimmered into existence holding a Yankees cap "where did you learn to fight like that and get that coat?"

"You have your secrets, I have mine" Ron said not wanting to tell her the truth out of spite "you set me up" he accused her

"I was coming to help you but you didn't seem to need it" Annabeth shrugged she then glanced at his hand

Then she noticed his wounded arm. "How did you do that?"

"Sword cut genius" Ron answered sarcastically

"No. It was a sword cut. Look at it"

The blood was gone. Where the huge cut had been, there was a long white scratch, and even that was fading. As I watched, it turned into a small scar, and disappeared.

"I-I don't get it" Ron told her

Annabeth was thinking hard "Step out of the water Ron"

"What?"

"Just do it"

Ron did as told and immediately felt bone tired he almost fell over, but Annabeth steadied him. "Oh, Styx" she cursed. "This is not good. I didn't want ... I assumed it would be Zeus..."

Before Ron could ask what she meant, a howl ripped through the forest.

The campers' cheering died instantly. Chiron shouted in Ancient Greek "Stand ready! My bow!"

Annabeth drew her sword. Standing on the rocks just above them was a black hound the size of a rhino, with lava red eyes and fangs like daggers and it was looking straight at Ron

Nobody moved except Annabeth, who yelled "Run!" the hound leapt into the air as Annabeth rushed forward, but he had already reached Ron and tore through his armour.

There was a cascade of thwacking sounds, like forty pieces of paper being ripped one after the other. From the hound's neck as arrows popped from them. Everything was a blur to Ron but he heard the words 'hellhound' 'summon' and then Annabeth saw the wounds on his chest and pushed him towards the creek.

"I'm fine" Ron insisted to which Annabeth replied "no you're not" and then turned to the centaur "Chiron watch this"

Ron stepped into the creek and instantly felt better, he could practically feel the cuts on his chest closing up and heard the gasping of the campers "okay, what's going on?" Ron asked but realised the campers weren't watching his wounds heal; they were staring at something above his head.

"Ron" Annabeth pointed above his head "um..."

By the time Ron looked up, it was already fading but Ron could make out a green trident.

"Your father" she murmured "this is bad"

"It is determined" Chiron announced as the campers started to bow, even the Ares campers, although grudgingly.

"My father?" Ron was confused beyond belief

"Poseidon" Chiron announced "Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses! Hail Ronald Jackson son of the Sea God"

AN: I have decided to try something different with this fic. and write down the name of the celebrities on whom I base the characters looks.

Ron Jackson: Rupert Grint

Grover Underwood: Adam Sevani

Chiron: Colin Farrell

Annabeth Chase: Annasophia Robb

Argus: Ryan Gosling

Dionysus: Johnny Depp

Hestia: Emma Stone

Luke Castellan: Jake Abel

Clarisse La Rue: Lindsey Shaw