AN: This is an F story, not A (because this is a shared account). I don't own PJO or HoO. Please leave a review (constructive criticism is welcomed) or follow/favorite the story. Thanks for reading~
Percy's POV
The day started out great. Leo hadn't blown up anything important, no monster attacks so far, and it was sunny. Plus, Annabeth and I were in the city.
We had just gotten back to camp half-blood after our first year of college (Annabeth was studying architecture and I was studying marine biology), and Annabeth and I were headed to my mom's place. She wanted us to tell her all about college.
Anyway, things were going great until the chimera showed up.
It had the head and the body of a lion, a second head of a goat attached to the back of its neck, and a long scaled tail with the head of a snake on the end.
I yelped and leaned backward. The snake tail whipped around and passed through the air where my head had been a moment before.
Annabeth didn't have her knife-she had lost it in Tartarus. I pulled out riptide, but the snake tail defended its heads. My sword couldn't reach the monsters lion and goat heads. Annabeth snatched up a garbage can lid from the alley where we were, the entrance blocked by the chimera. She fended off the lion head, the teeth grazing off the metal as I tried to cut off the snake's head. The chimera was blocking the entrance of the alley we were in-we couldn't get past it. It was pressing us back against the wall.
"How did this thing get killed the first time?" I shouted.
Annabeth's gray eyes flashed. "Bellerophon shot arrows at it from Pegasus's back! Get above it!" I tried to climb the fire escape, but the snake tail wrapped around my ankle and pulled me back down. I fell hard on my back, the lion's head snarling at me.
And just before the lion's head could snap my head off, an arrow embedded itself in the snake head, pinning it to the wall of the alley. The chimera roared in pain and cringed back, giving me time to roll to the side. Annabeth swung the trash can lid and cracked it over the goat's head.
"Who did that?" I asked, craning his neck to see whoever had shot the arrow from the rooftop. "Who shot that arrow?" At the top of the roof he could see a figure of a teenager pointing a bow down at the chimera. Another arrow went through the lions head, and the chimera burst into dust.
Another arrow hit the wall about a story up, right over the fire escape. There was a rope attached to it. Annabeth and I stared as a boy leapt off the roof, and slid down the rope, using the bow and rope as a zip line. He landed on the fire escape.
"Everyone okay?" He asked, turning to face us. His hood of his gray pullover hoodie was yanked low over his face, so that all we could really see of him was his eyes-bright hazel ones. His face was hidden in shadow. He was probably a few years younger then me-around fifteen or sixteen.
"We're fine," I said. "Who are you?"
"Can't tell you. If you're okay, I gotta go. Presidential emergency." The boy yanked the arrow out of the wall, and pressed his fingernail into an invisible niche in the wood. The rope retracted into the end of the arrow. He tucked it into his quiver, slung his bow over his shoulder, and leapt lightly to the ground. "See you."
"Wait," Annabeth said. She had put her trash can lid on the ground, and caught the boys arm. "Why can't you tell us who you are?"
"Well, the president waits for no man," The boy said, pulling his arm free. "Have nice lives, I'm gone." The boy jogged out of the alley and down the street. Annabeth and I exchanged a look.
"He must be a demigod-we should bring him to camp." I said. Annabeth nodded.
"Call your mom once we're back and camp and tell her we can't make it. We'll catch up another time." We ran to the end of the alley, looking both ways to spot the boy. We saw him dodging through the crowd, and ran after.
He glanced over his shoulder and saw us following him. A look of panic crossed his face, and he dodged down another alley. We turned just in time to see his foot disappear through a window into an abandoned building. That was the only window that wasn't boarded up. I scrambled up onto the trash can and climbed through the window. Annabeth followed.
The whole place was trashed and dirty-dusty boards were stacked in a corner, there was graffiti on the walls, some shattered glass littered the ground, and dirt was on everything. A workbench sat in one corner, covered in scrap metal and tools. A few blueprints hung over it. A wood-burning stove sat in the middle of the room, a small glow coming from it.
The boy in with the gray hoodie wasn't the only person here. There was a girl with black hair and her back to them and a black girl with plumbers overalls sitting by the stove.
"Who are-"
"I told you they followed me!" The boy in the hoodie pointed an arrow at us, but he didn't pull the string back far enough for him to actually be threatening us.
"Put the bow down, Legolas." The girl with black hair turned around, and the boy in the gray hoodie lowered his bow. The girl's tangled curly black hair was short and pulled in two pigtails that stuck out from her head. She wore a dark blue pullover hoodie with NYC GIANTS in white on it under a gray plaid jacket, torn jeans, and gray-blue converse. She had a heart-shaped face, scattered freckles, and big sea-green eyes. She was clearly the leader of the other kids. "We only attack monsters."
The blue-eyed boy in the gray hoodie slung his bow over his shoulders again. "They were fighting a chimera. They're like us."
"They are? Cool, yo!" The black girl in the plumber's overalls grinned. She was tall and slightly willowy, but she looked strong and her hands were worn with calluses. The legs of her overalls were tucked into muddy work boots, and there were extra pockets sewn into the pants with tools and scrap metal poking out of them. She had dark skin, and ink-black hair dyed with streaks of pink in a braid over her shoulder. "Maybe they know what the whole monsters thing is about. 'Cause we sure as hell don't."
"Hush it, Attie. Go get some food. Sam, go… shoot something." The girl with tangled black hair in pigtails commanded, her sea-green eyes flicking back and forth between Annabeth and I, while other two went about their business. The girl in plumbers clothes clambered out the window, and the boy with the bow followed.
"Sorry about them." The girl said. "I'm Brooklyn Seymour. Everyone calls me Brook."
"I'm Percy Jackson, this is my girlfriend Annabeth Chase." I introduced. This girl-something about her was bothering me. Something important.
"Nice to meet you." Brook said. "Sam said he found you fighting a chimera? You guys okay?"
"We're fine." Annabeth said. "How much do you guys know about the monsters you've been fighting?"
"Not much." Brook shook her head. "Only we can see them, most metals don't kill them, and they really really hate us. Attie figured out that bronze does the trick almost by accident, and special-made Sam's arrows. How much do you guys know?"
"A lot." I said. "You know all the Greek myths you learn about in latin class?" Brook nodded.
"They're real." Annabeth said. "They travel with Western civilization, so right now they're here in America. And the gods, they sometimes have children with mortals. Those children are called demigods, or half-bloods. We're half-bloods, and we think that you and your friends are, too."
Brook stared at her. "You've got problems, lady."
"It's true," I said. "I'm a son of Poseidon. Annabeth is a daughter of Athena."
"Ocean and owls?" Brook asked, raising an eyebrow. "You make a weird couple. So if you're kids of gods, then who's my godly parent supposed to be? And Sam and-" Brooks eyes widened. "So that's why."
"Why what?" I asked.
"Why her parents named her Atalanta. I always wondered." Brook said, shaking her head. "We call her Attie, and I've always thought either her parents had a reason or they were totally cruel. Sorry. Not important. Who're our godly parents?"
"We can't know until you're claimed." Annabeth said. "You have to come to camp with us."
"Camp?" Brook crossed her arms and gave a skeptical look. "No offense, I mean you seem nice, but I'm not going anywhere with you. I don't know anything about you. I'm calling my friends back." Brook pulled a walkie-talkie out of her pocket. It was spray-painted pink with sparkly star stickers on it. "Like it?" She grinned and held it up. "Attie made it for me. And trust me, the color was not my idea."
She pressed the button and held the walkie-talkie up to her mouth. "Attie, Sam, get back here. It's important." She took her finger off the button and her friends voices crackled across the line.
"Coming in, cap'n." Sam's said.
"But donuts!" Attie complainted.
"Bring the donuts with you, unicorn sparkle princess." Sam's voice crackled.
"And get hot dogs, too. This calls for both food groups." Brook said, and then tucked the walkie-talkie into her pocket. Then she gave us a blank scrutinizing look. "You better not be lying."
"We aren't," I promised. Yes, something about her definitely was bothering me. It was her eyes. They were familiar.
"That's what liars say." Brook sighed.
Sam's head appeared at the window. He clambered through, his bow and arrows still on his back. "Hey. What's going on?" Sam asked, giving us a suspicious look. "Do I get to shoot them, now?"
"Sorry, Robin Hood. No shooting." Brook said. "Attie coming?"
"Attie is coming!" Attie crowed, leaping through the window, pink hair flying. She held up a paper bag triumphantly. "Donuts and hot dogs! Get 'em while they're hot!"
I can't resist donuts, or hot dogs. And there was a chocolate one with blue sprinkles! And I was pretty impressed with Brook's eating skills. She took a hot dog in one hand and a powdered donut with rainbow sprinkles in the other hand and took a bite one then the other in turn. "I bet I can eat one of these faster then you." Brook said, holding up another donut.
"Challenge accepted!" I crowed. "You're going down, Brooklyn!"
"I'm gonna thrash you for ugliness and using my name!" Brook cackled.
"You're gonna lose, Percy." Sam shook his head. "Her nickname is "the pit"."
"Count of three." Attie grinned. "One….two….three!" Brook and I both stuffed the donuts, whole, into our mouths. I chewed frantically. I couldn't let a fifteen-year-old beat me! But then Brook swallowed and grinned.
"Victory!" Brook grinned. "I win." But then she turned a little green and her smile faded. "Except I think I'm gonna be sick."
"So I win?" I asked hopefully.
"Sorry, seaweed brain." Annabeth rolled her eyes.
"So," Sam said. "What about the monsters?"
It took a while to explain to Sam and Attie about the Greek myths. "So… you're saying dad was a god?" Attie asked. She was sitting criss-cross applesauce on top of a stack of crates, and rubbing her eyes with one hand. "That's crazy."
"Yeah. Are you guys sure you didn't hit your heads when you fought the chimera?" Sam asked. He was leaning against the wall with his hands in his hoodie pocket, scrutinizing me. "I think you might be nuts. I have an asylum on speed dial for when Attie finally loses it, if you want."
"You don't have a phone." Attie and Brook said at the same time.
"Anyway, you mentioned something about a camp?" Brook asked. Her eyes seemed so familiar… I knew I should be able to place them, but I couldn't. They were the color of the sea… then I realized. Brook's eyes were just like mine, and just like Poseidons. Could she be….
"Yes. Camp Half-blood." Annabeth said. "There's also Camp Jupiter, for romans demigods, but camp half-blood is much closer. Monsters can't get in there, and you'll be trained in how to fight them better and learn a lot of useful skills. And you can be claimed by your godly parents."
"Cool." Attie said. "I say we go."
"Yeah, we get like two monsters a day here. It'd be nice to be able to stop looking over our shoulders for once." Sam nodded. They both looked to Brook, apparently waiting for a final verdict.
"Can we?" Attie asked hopefully. Brook chewed her lip, tugging on one of her short curly pigtails. Her friends waited for permission.
"Yeah, we can go to this camp." Brook said. "But only if you promise that we'll be allowed to leave whenever we want."
I didn't know if that was a good idea, but these kids were living in an abandoned warehouse, getting attacked by monsters every day, eating hotdogs and donuts and fighting for their lives. I had to get them to camp, where they'd be safe. And there was no reason for them to want to leave again. It would probably be fine.
"I promise." I said. I knew Annabeth was shaking her head a little, but I needed to know if Brook could really be… could she be a daughter of Poseidon? I had to find out. "C'mon, let's get to camp."
AN: thanks for reading! Please leave a review/follow/favorite this story. Later-