Welcome to chapter one! Please review if you like it! Review if you don't! I have this all planned out, so if you like long fics, this is definitely for you!

Disclaimer: I, unfortunately, do not own the Percy Jackson characters.

Chapter One : Charlotte

Charlotte stood in the middle of LaGuardia airport, her bags in hand, tapping her foot against the bottom of her suitcase. Her flight from London had landed over twenty minutes ago and here she stood waiting. Waiting was not something that Charlotte particularly enjoyed and each moment she stood by the doors looking out into the glorious city that was New York her sanity decreased a little more. She had hopped the pond for the summer to visit an old friend before returning to school in August and the desire to go exploring the city on her own was almost overwhelming, but she squashed that little inkling regretfully. She didn't know the city and she didn't have a cell. If she got lost she was on her own. That's not to say that she couldn't handle herself, but she knew it wasn't sensible. She giggled at the thought. She was telling herself to be sensible. James and Fred would have a field day if they knew they had rubbed off on me that much, she thought. "Just breathe. She'll be here soon."

"Talking to yourself again, Lottie?" A voice said behind her.

Charlotte whirled around to see her best and long distance friend Jen. Jen stood with her hands on her hips, her long black hair pulled up in a thick pony tail, a mischievous smirk already plastered across her face. It was a look that said trouble was coming and the little part of Charlotte that had been wanting to go searching for an adventure got a little louder. "I told you not to call me that."

"Fine, Charlie. I'll go with the boring nickname." She frowned, stepping forward and flipping her bangs out of her face. She tilted her head to the side, examining Charlotte closely. "Is it just me or do you have a British accent now?"

Charlotte laughed, not surprised at all that the first thing Jen said to her a comment on her now native sounding English accent rather than a proper hello. "Only since I was five."

"It seemed more American before."

"The last time you saw me face to face was when I was ten. It was still a little American then."
Charlotte grinned. The accent was one of the things she didn't miss about living in the states. For her first few years in England her accent had kind of fluctuated, but after spending three years at boarding school there and five more before that living with her favorite family the American accent had been easy enough to drop.

"Well, we'll just have to fix that right back! My poor British friend needs to remember her roots!" Jen smirked, then looked around as if suddenly remembering where they were standing. They had started to draw attention and despite Jen's loud personality, attention wasn't really her thing. "But we should probably finish this conversation later. I have so much I want to show you!"

Grabbing Charlotte's suitcase in one hand and her elbow in the other, Jen bolted out of the airport, nearly barreling into an elderly couple by the door. Charlotte tossed out an apology as she sped by, but she doubted that they heard. Only when they were safely settled into a cab did she pause for a breath. "So I was thinking that we could drop your stuff off at the apartment and then meet up with a friend of mine. I met him at school this past year and he's pretty cool. I'm sure you guys will get along. Just make sure you go all British-y. It's really amusing." All of this was said very quickly and as soon as Charlotte wrapped her head around the words coming out of her petite friend's mouth she gave her a quick rap on the head. She could have sworn she heard the cabbie laugh, but she ignored him.

"Hey! What do you mean go all 'British-y' on him? I am bloody British!" But Charlotte busted out laughing the second the sentence was out of her mouth. "I can't do it! I can't do it!" Cursing was never her thing, something her brother and cousin continually made fun of. The words just didn't feel right coming out of her mouth.

"That is exactly what I mean!" Jen struggled to say around her own laughs. "You may have the accent and the fancy words down, but you," Jen poked her in the arm, " can't British curse to save your life."

"British curse?"

"Yep."

"That's what you're going with?"

"It is."

"I've missed you, Jen."

Jen smiled, poking Charlotte again. "So have I my British amigo, so have I."

….…

The cabbie dropped them off at the corner of Walnut and Cherry and drove off still laughing at their antics on the drive over. Jen pointed out a small brick building across the street, and after a quick glance in each direction, headed over. "It used to be a factory back in the twenties," Jen explained as the lugged Charlotte's suitcase up the stairs to the front door. "Down there," she said pointing at a brown building two doors down, "was a drafting station during the forties. The one next door to this one," She pointed to her right. "It used to be a newspaper office. You can still smell where the paper was processed and printed. They did it all themselves."

Charlotte looked around. It was true that you could see the history in the buildings. They all seemed to have stories to tell, and despite the lingering paper smell, Jen's apartment was absolutely adorable in an old fashioned way. "I love it."

"Eh, it's alright," Jen said nonenthused. Charlotte tried to linger, to glimpse the old decorated parlor that was left downstairs or to examine the detailing in the light fixtures, but Jen grabbed her arm again and pulled her right behind her. "You can look at that old stuff later. We have to meet my friend in twenty minutes. At this rate we'll probably be late." She glanced down at Charlotte as if to say she was disappointed.

"Oh, come on!" Charlotte exclaimed, jerking at her case when it caught on a step. Jen slowed down, but only barely. "You can't possibly blame me. You were the one who showed up twenty minutes late to pick me up. "

"A wizard is never late; he arrives precisely when he means to. Everyone else is simply early." Jen quoted straight faced before giving Charlotte's arm another tug.

Charlotte choked on her laughter because it was far funnier to her than Jen meant it to be. If only Jen knew. There had been plenty of times that she had wanted to tell her. She had hinted enough times and had even let her glimpse a few of her little accidents, but Jen had never guessed and her father had made sure she understood the rules when he agreed to her little overseas trip. "Only problem, Jen, is you aren't a wizard."

Jen narrowed her eyes and raised one eyebrow. "As far as you know." Jen had finally come to a stop on the six floor landing. There was only one door. "Anyway," she said inserting her key into the lock. "Here we are, home sweet home at 221B."

Charlotte got a quick glance at the room, a flash of red paint, before Jen grabbed her bag, threw it into the room, and slammed the door shut. Charlotte shook her head, not at all surprised by her friend's antics. "Shouldn't we at least let your mom know that I'm here safe and sound? That my plane didn't crash in a fiery explosion?"

"Don't be silly, Lottie dear. She would have heard of an explosion that tremendous on the news already." Jen's grin was one that Charlotte knew well. It meant something very entertaining or very stupid was about to happen. Knowing Jen it was probably both. "Besides, Mom is working the night shift so she won't be back until early tomorrow morning, and you my dear friend need to get acquainted with both my friend and the town." The grin widened. "We have a lot to do."

"Ah, bloody hell," Charlotte cursed as Jen took her arm and dragged her towards the door once more.