"I'm Thalia, Daughter of Zeus." She said.

I stared at her, stunned. I just couldn't wrap my mind around it.

Thalia had been on the run with Luke and Annabeth years ago. Monsters were chasing them across the country, and they were almost across the border when Thalia had given her life to save them. While she was dying, Zeus turned her into a pine tree to protect the borders of Camp Half Blood. How could she be lying here, alive after all this time?

Annabeth and Grover came up to her. "Thalia!"

She looked over at them and squinted, like she was trying to remember. Then, when realization came to her, she grinned slightly. "Annabeth? Grover?"

"Yes! It's us!" Annabeth said, tears streaming down her face. She gave Thalia a huge hug. Grover still looked stunned, but happy.

When Annabeth finally let her go, Thalia looked around. "Where's Luke?" She asked.

Those two words changed the mood completely. The stunned joy turned into a painful silence. Nobody answered her.

Chiron cleared his throat. "We have much to discuss, my dear. Why don't you come with me? Cabin leaders, emergency war council in 5 minutes."

"War council?" she asked, confused.

Chiron picked Thalia up and put her on his back. Annabeth looked at me, and I could tell she was hurting. As happy as she was that Thalia was alive, the wound Luke's betrayal had cut was reopened.

"Are you ok?" I asked her. I could tell immediately that she wasn't.

"What do you think Percy? How am I going to tell Thalia that Luke is lost?"

"I just thought…"

"C'mon Seaweed Brain. Let's go to the council room." She replied curtly, and then walked away, leaving Grover and me alone on the hill with the Golden Fleece shimmering beside us.

"How are you doing?" I asked him.

"I don't know." He said, chewing on a spare tin can. "It's like she's given me a second chance. Like maybe I'm not the lamest Satyr ever." He looked as though he thought this was all a dream. I was tempted to pinch him.

Grover was the one who was leading them to Camp Half Blood. He believed himself a failure because of Thalia's death, and unfortunately the Council of Cloven Elders agreed. He'd finally redeemed himself when he went on my quest with me and returned alive, but I knew he still felt responsible for everything that had happened to her.

"You're not lame. You did great with me!" I replied

He stood there for a long time with a faraway look on his face.

"C'mon," he said at last. "You've got to get to that meeting."

Even though I was only a 2nd year camper, I'm a Cabin Leader and therefore part of the war council because… well… I'm the only one in my cabin: Cabin Three, the Cabin of my father, Poseidon.

I walked over to the Big House for the meeting. I saw that I was late for the introductions. The other cabin leaders had introduced themselves and which cabin they represented. The Stoll brothers were just finishing up. I found Annabeth sitting next to Thalia, who looked as though she'd just found out the big Luke News. She was staring straight ahead while everyone made his or her introductions, and Annabeth had her arm around her shoulder. I sat in the last seat available, across the table from the two of them and beside Selena from the Aphrodite Cabin and Beckendorf from Hephaestus.

Chiron was standing at the head of the table. "I've called this meeting to introduce to the rest of you to Thalia, who is the Daughter of Zeus and therefore another member of the Council. Though this is a blessed event and we are overjoyed to see Thalia, there is also a terrible and grave danger. Kronos believes he has found another half-blood who he can manipulate to do his will, much like… Luke." He paused for a moment, looking troubled. "So we all need to be wary of temptation and help one another. We need to be stronger now more than ever. Do we have an agreement?"

There was a murmuring of consensus. "In that case," he continued, "we shall adjourn. Tomorrow will be just like any other day."

We all rose to leave, when suddenly, Chiron called out "Percy, will you stay please?"

I turned back. Thalia was now looking straight down, and Annabeth looked as though she didn't want to leave her.

"Annabeth, I would like to speak to these two alone."

She looked like she wanted to protest, but the look on Chiron's face stopped her. She gave Thalia one last hug, looked at me, and sighed as she walked out.

Chiron began, "Percy, I assume you know why I called you back?"

"I think so." I told him. In fact I had a very good idea, but I really didn't want to talk about it.

"Well I don't." Thalia said so suddenly I jumped.

"My dear, have you been told of the great prophecy?" Chiron asked her.

"No, I haven't heard anything about a prophecy."

"Have you heard about the pact of the Big Three?"

She looked a little angry. "That I have heard about, but what does it have to do with anything?"

"After World War II, a prophecy was made. I cannot tell you all of it yet, but it foretold that the next child sired by one of the three elder gods that reached the age of 16 would be a powerful weapon. They will make a decision that will destroy or save the age of the gods."

"So they stopped having children so no one could turn against them?"

"Correct. Your father, Poseidon, and Hades indeed made a pact that forbade them from ever having a demigod child again."

"But I was born anyway. So now I'm some powerful weapon that could destroy the gods?"

"Quite possibly. But you're not yet 16. Kronos now has another opportunity to control the prophecy."

"What do you mean 'another' opportunity?"

Chiron looked weary. "What I mean is, there are now two demigod children of the Big Three, and therefore two chances for Kronos to overthrow Olympus."

She looked at him confused. Then her gaze dropped straight to me, as though she suddenly remembered I was there. "Wait a second, who are you?" she asked me. "You look like… someone I know…"

Well, here goes nothing. "I'm Percy." I said, hoping it would be enough.

It wasn't. "What cabin?" she asked. She was looking at me so intently, and I had a feeling she already knew.

"Cabin three. I'm the son of Poseidon."

Her eyes widened and there was an awkward silence. "So it's you? The other demigod?" she finally asked.

"Yeah. It's me." I said.

After a pause, Chiron continued. "Well, now you know. Kronos will be manipulating you both in every way possible. Now that there are two of you, he believes it will cause you to be weaker. You must not let Kronos get to you, and you need to be able to rely on each other for strength. Can you promise me that you'll do this?" His gazed shifted back and forth between the two of us.

We both looked at each other. Annabeth had once told me that she thought we would either have been best friends or worst enemies. I guess now we would get the chance to find out.

"I promise." I said. Thalia nodded.

"Well then, I guess I'll let you get back to bed." Chiron left the room, but neither of us moved.

We were both silent, though I was dying to ask her some questions, and I could tell she had many of her own as well.

"So…" She finally said. "Poseidon?"

"Yeah." I replied. "Zeus?"

"Yeah…" she glanced down but then looked back at me. "Did you… um… know Luke at all?"

Oh boy. "He was my councilor for a little while, but after I was claimed by Poseidon, I only saw him when I was training. At the end of the summer he…" I stopped short. I almost told her that he'd tried to kill me, but I thought she'd had enough bad news for the day. "Anyway, yeah, I knew him, and he was my friend for awhile."

She nodded. "He was my family for so long. I can't believe that he would do this."

"I'm so sorry Thalia."

She closed her eyes for a brief moment, and opened them again slowly. "Well, I guess I have a new family now." She looked determined, like she was trying to move on no matter how hard it hurt.

"Yeah. We really are a family. This was my second summer, but it's my favorite place on earth."

She paused again. I shifted my weight.

"So can you… um… do something special?"

"What do you mean 'something special'?"

She tentatively put her hands about a foot apart. Blue electricity arched between them, not affecting her at all. Then, she turned her palms upward made it grow to a huge blot of lightning, flashing into an arch above her head. Suddenly she snapped her fingers and it was gone.

"That was amazing!" I smiled a little. "Yeah, I can do something. But not here."

She managed to turn the corners of her mouth up at my compliment, so she wasn't frowning or smiling. "Why is that?"

"Well, my… something… can be a little messy." Moving around water still isn't easy for me, and I'm afraid of dousing everyone around me when I do it.

She smiled for real this time, just a little. "Understood." She rose from the table. "So where do I sleep?"

"Zeus's Cabin: Cabin One. It's right next to mine, so I can show you."

"Maybe on the way you can show me your 'something'. It's only fair after all. I showed you mine." She smirked at me.

"I didn't ask you to."

"It doesn't matter, I still did. Now you have to."

"Fine." As reluctant as I was, I knew it'd been a long few hours for her and figured the last thing she needed was to get into an argument.

We walked out of the Big House. The sun was barely creeping over the horizon. I looked at the watch that Tyson had given me and saw that it was after 6 am. The camp was quiet, and I looked over at Thalia's… er… the pine tree on Half Blood Hill. I'd looked at it a dozen times, but now, standing next to the girl whose spirit the tree had used to protect the camp for so long made it seem a lot sadder.

As we walked to the cabins, I gave her a tour of camp. I showed her everything, just as Annabeth had done last year. We walked by the creek, and Thalia stopped.

"What's wrong?" I said.

"Nothing. You think I'd forgotten what you said in the Big House?"

Of course that's what it was.

"Why do you think I can do anything here?" I asked her.

"I'm not stupid. I know Poseidon is the Sea God, so that must mean that you can control the water."

"Why do you care so much if I can do anything?"

She looked over at her former tree. "Percy, my entire life I've been the only one who had powers like this. Luke and Annabeth don't have physical powers like me. Sure, Luke is crafty and an amazing fighter, and Annabeth is basically a genius, but they can hide better than I ever could. Have you ever gotten a static shock during the winter? I can hurt people if I shock them and I'm not careful. I just want to know that I'm not alone, and that someone else understands having powers this great."

I'd never imagined her like this. Whenever Annabeth or Grover talked about her, it was about how tough and brave she was. I'd never imagined that she could've felt so insecure or ashamed.

"Ok, I'll do it. Just stand back a little." Thalia stepped back a couple of steps as I walked up to the creek and concentrated. I felt the water rushing by, and imagined it as part of me, pumping along with my heart and flowing through my body. I raised my hands up and the creek rose with them, in a perfect semicircle above my head. I then pushed my hands up and the water jumped into the air. I stepped through the dry creek bed right before it crashed back into the ground.

She looked at me, and it seemed as though she was impressed, though I doubted she'd ever actually tell me. "Thanks. Well, I think I'm ready for some real sleep now. Where are the cabins?" I took her up to the cabins. As we walked by them, I told her which was which. I pointed out Athena's cabin and Thalia stopped again.

"What is it?"

"Annabeth was at the council. Is she really a cabin leader?"

"Yeah. She's been here longer than almost anyone, and she's 13 now. Her siblings look up to her because she really knows her stuff."

Thalia grinned, and I think I caught a little pride in her eyes. "Wow Annabeth. You're really growing up."

We walked on, and I came to cabin three. "This is my stop, but yours is right next door."

She looked at the grand cabin for Zeus. "Well, I suppose I'll see you in a few hours." She walked up to the cabin and opened the door, then looked back at me. "Thanks Percy. It feels good to meet another demigod like me. Let's hope we don't kill each other. 'Night!" At that she smirked and walked into the cabin.

I walked into my own cabin and laid down on my bunk. I knew there was no going back to sleep now, but it gave me plenty of time to think. I had just met my best friend or worst enemy, but it looked as though we were off to a good start. But that last line had caught me off guard. Let's hope we don't kill each other? What did she mean by that?

Maybe even Thalia knew after all she'd been through, and after hearing about Luke, that even the best can go astray. But I wasn't going to give in to Kronos without a fight, and I would make sure Thalia fought just as hard. We owed it to each other because we were both accidents. We should never have been born. And sometimes, a connection like that causes you to need to stick together. And no matter what, I was determined to make her an ally. Maybe even a friend. At last, even though I didn't mean to, I fell asleep too.