••• A Rising Moon •••

This is my first fanfic, so please be nice – no flames! I don't mind constructive criticism though. It is set before PJATO, before the Gods had to claim their children before 13. DISCLAIMER: I only own the plot, and characters: Chel, Pat, Kara, Roxanne, Sara and Joseph, etc. The rest belongs to Rick Riordan.

Chapter One - Chel's POV

I didn't ask to be special, but I must admit, being a Half-Blood is pretty cool. I remember when I didn't know I was a demigod. Everything was ordinary … normal. I remember when the monsters came after me. No one else could see them, the Mist, of course, took care of that. I was terrified, but if I think back, the monsters were just playing with me, like a cat plays with a mouse before going in for the kill. But, obviously, they didn't succeed in killing me.

•••

'So we're going now, right?'

'Yup, just let me get my towel'. I rummaged around in my drawers, pulling out a towel and swimmers.

'Come on then', Lauren slipped off of my bed, linked her arm through mine, and pulled me down the steps.

'You girls have fun now, and don't forget to apply sunscreen'.

'Yes Moira'. Moira. My foster mother. She was okay, I guess, better than any other foster family I'd had in the past 6 years. I hadn't told Moira or Lauren or anyone, for that matter, about the monsters that plagued me at school, the supermarket, everywhere except this house. It seemed as if there was some kind of magical aura about the house.

'You know', Lauren said, 'this will be you first time out of the house in ages.'

Okay, so I was being a coward, I wouldn't leave the house except for necessities. School, food, medicine, all that stuff, oh, and chocolate. Lauren flicked her tongue in and out, but it wasn't her tongue, it was forked and bright red.

'W-what is wrong with your tongue?'

'Oh, you mean this?' Lauren poked her completely normal tongue out at me, a silver stud gleaming in the middle of it.

'Your mum let you get a tongue piercing?'

'No', Lauren grinned cheekily, 'let's get changed, we can't go swimming in our clothes, after all'. Lauren's hand moved to her bag, and all I remember is a flash of metal before someone tackled me, and we hit the water.

•••

As my vision cleared, I could see green eyes, then black hair, a boy holding me underwater.

Stay here, he said. Only, for 1 thing, he didn't say it, the words, kind of, appeared in my mind. And for another thing, I could breathe underwater. The boy looked intently at me, and then swam to the surface. In this situation, I did what would come naturally to anyone in my situation. I whistled. It was cool, whistling underwater, but disorienting too, kind of like there were all these people around me, whistling the same tune. If you are ever underwater, and you can whistle without drowning, I would highly recommend that you try it. After a while I began to float to the surface. I could see the boy, he had a long, golden sword, and half of it was thrust into Lauren's stomach.