Helena POV

Below me sped car after car, racing along the highway. Pedestrians strolled down the cramped street and colorful umbrellas were put up as the drizzle of rain began to get stronger. Large buses crawled down the side of the road. Bikers rolled past the continuing traffic.

New York.

Home sweet home.

I jumped off my window seat and crossed my bedroom, picking up a pamphlet off my bed as I did so. Taking a seat at my desk, I unfolded the flyer. CAMP TREBLE, it read. Below the bold title was a picture of a girl standing on a stage with a microphone in her hand. I sighed longingly. That was exactly where I wanted to be right now: away from this cramped apartment, in a decorated cabin at Camp Treble.

I attended Camp Treble every summer. In other words, I was pretty much a veteran. It was a camp for aspiring music stars, teenagers who wanted to become famous one day. There we wrote songs and prepared for the talent show at the end of the year. The winner of the talent show got a recording contract and a huge silver trophy. I've been going for five summers now, and I've never won. I intend to change that this year.

All year long I've been preparing for this. I finally convinced my parents to let me take guitar lessons, in addition to the violin I've been learning since I was six. I also taught myself piano a couple years back. My friend Ashley's mom is a vocal coach, and she let me take lessons for free. As well as all the instruments, I've been busy writing songs. My goal is to write one song a month, which leaves me with twelve songs since I last visited camp. I can't wait to perform them to my friends at camp!

And of course, every year I look forward to this to get away from my family. My little brother, Ethan, is a nuisance. Twelve years old and already super cocky, the two of us did not get along well.

I strode over to my mirror and stared at my reflection. I had long and thick black hair that fell in waves down my back. My gray eyes seemed dull and empty. I was average height, nothing special.

Speaking of appearance, my hair was a mess. I was about to reach for my hairbrush when a blondheaded pest burst into my bedroom and snatched the brush off my dresser.

"Ethan!"

Now, okay, I know it's just a hairbrush, but still . . . it was going to be so awesome when I won't have to deal with my little brother.

I ran down the hall of our small apartment and burst into the kitchen. The smell of chocolate chip pancakes reached my nose. Scratch that. The smell of burning chocolate chip pancakes reached my nose.

"Percy!" cried my mom as she raced into the kitchen. Dad whirled around, his face red and his hair a mess. It was obvious he had just crawled out of bed.

Ethan was cracking up. My hairbrush was in his hand. When he saw me glaring at him, he grinned and waved it around. I rolled my eyes.

"Percy, why are you making breakfast?" demanded Mom.

"Uhhh . . . 'Cause I wanted to do something for you? I mean, you make every single meal . . ." Dad's voice drifted off at the sight of Mom's stormy gray eyes.

I was waiting for Mom to explode, but her expression softened. She said, "There's a reason I do the cooking, Seaweed Brain." The she crossed the cramped kitchen and gave him a swift kiss before taking over the pancakes.

Soon we were all eating the pancakes (though they were pretty darn crispy). Everything seemed totally okay until the rainbow appeared.

"Percy Jackson! Where in the name of Jupiter are you?"

We all jumped. Dad whipped around, and there, floating in midair, was the top half of a blond man. I screamed. I mean, it's not every day some random dude shows up in your kitchen.

"Jason!" exclaimed Mom. "What are you –"

"Hi, Annabeth," said the man, who apparently A) knew my mom, B) was named Jason, and C) had a way with magic rainbows.

"What – who – why – " spluttered Ethan.

"Hello, Ethan," said Jason. "You look just like Percy."

Okay, I'm officially creeped out.

Jason's electric blue eyes turned to meet Percy's sea green ones, and he repeated, "Where. Are. You?"

Dad looked really confused. Meanwhile, Ethan was aiming to throw his fork at the picture of Jason to see if it would go through. He had a wild look in his deep green eyes and his blond curls dangled over his forehead.

"So, who are you again?" I asked Jason, whose mouth dropped open.

I looked at Dad, who was bright red, and then Mom, who was as pale as a sheet. Yeah, something a little weird was going on.

Jason looked Mom in the eye and asked incredulously, "You haven't told them yet?"

No response.

He laughed. "Gods of Olympus, no wonder you're late. We told Jess when she was, what, seven?"

"Told us what?" I asked slowly.

Jason just chuckled in an infuriating way. "Oh, I'll leave that up to your parents. But Percy, get down here. You're two days late."

Dad just nodded. It was then that Ethan chose to chuck his silverware at the hazy image of Jason, which immediately dissipated.

"Ethan!" scolded Mom.

"What's going on?!" I asked. "If someone doesn't tell me what's going on right now, I swear I will do - something . . ."

Mom just shook her head. Never in all my life have I seen my mother so speechless. She always seemed to know exactly what to do and say, but now . . . she was at a loss for words.

Dad stood up and stared out the window. After almost five minutes of us staring at him in complete silence, he turned around and said, "I'm a demigod."