You've all heard the stories from the New Titan War and the New Giant War, right? You know the famous names like Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, Jason Grace, Piper McLean, Hazel Levesque, Frank Zhang and Leo Valdez and how they defeated the Titans and the children of the earth mother Gaia. They were pretty incredible. My sisters told me stories about the events as they happened and my mom kept me up to date as well. She always told me, "One day, you will be just as famous as they are."

Now when she said it, she did so with pride but also with sorrow. Now I'm a smart kid. I knew she knew something about my future - something she wasn't telling me. It made sense because Apollo, the god of foresight, is her brother so she probably went to the Oracle of Delphi to get a prophecy. If her attitude was any evidence, I tend to think she got one.

Anyhow, I'm sure you guessed it by now and are probably thinking 'what the Hades?' and 'how did that happen?'

Well, first of all, let me just get this out in the open and introduce myself. My name is Arthur Price and I'm a son of Artemis and a mortal named Scout Price. Go ahead, ask me how. My answer is this: how does Athena have kids? No, seriously, how does she if she's still a maiden and all? I was always a little curious about that. Anyhow, the way my dad told it and my mom tells it is that my dad was a war veteran who was injured during his last tour of duty. A shrapnel injury rendered him unable to... uh... have relations and have kids. When he got home, he moved to the Rocky Mountains in Colorado and lived off the land. He didn't have a TV and only got news when he went to a nearby small town. From what I understand, he was always a great hunter. No, seriously, I'm not talking about sitting in a tree stand with snacks and an Ipod and waiting for a deer to mosey on by. He went into the mountains, tracked down his pray and killed it the old fashioned way. Apparently, one day, he fell down a cliff and was injured. Thinking that he was going to die, he called out for help.

Now, if you know my mom, you'd realize that, for the most part, she doesn't care for men. I know, I know - that's a royal understatement. But something about my dad made her decide to help him. Artemis brought him back to his cabin and helped him heal. I don't know the specifics but I do know that my dad was one of those rare mortals who can see through the Mist - magic that makes most mortals oblivious to the monsters and such that exist out in the world. Anyhow, my mom left and, after every successful hunt, he would sacrifice the best part of it to Artemis. Every now and again, Artemis would visit him and they would talk about hunting and tracking and all that cool stuff.

One night, during a huge full moon while he was hunting, my dad saw her and realized that he had fallen in love with her. That made him ashamed since, well, he couldn't... well, never mind. You get the idea. When she visited him next, she noticed that he was depressed and nervous all at the same time, fumbling around like a school boy near his crush. Long and the short, she was able to figure out that my dad was in love with her. At first, Artemis was a little mad at him and she left but then, she remembered that he couldn't do anything about it. It was something she had really never experienced before - a man who had fallen in love with her and would never do anything about it.

When my mom visited him again, she had a serious talk with him about his feelings. I can just imagine my dad with his head down and fidgeting in his seat while they talked. To her own surprise, Artemis found that she really, really liked him. Love, I don't know about, she had kinda sworn off that sort of thing millennia ago. One day, my mom walked into my dad's cabin and saw him just gazing out the window and with tears in his eyes. "What's wrong, Scout?"

He was startled and wiped his eyes before saying, "Oh, I just got a card from my cousins. They're pregnant - again."

It didn't take a goddess to figure out why that depressed him. Chewing her lip, she said, "I'm sorry. I can't imagine how hard that must be."

She managed to cheer him up and they went hunting together like they always did when she visited. They hunted brown and grizzly bear. They hunted wild boar and elk. As always, he gave all the best of the meat to Artemis. Suddenly, when they got back to the cabin, a guy in a UPS or Mailman uniform of some kind appeared, "Artemis, Zeus needs us - all of us, right now."

She turned to my dad and smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry about this. I'll come back as soon as I can."

My dad and mom never told me what was so urgent or what it was about. However, they did tell me that, when she got back to my dad, she had good news. "Scout, I have some good news for you. I asked my dad and step-mother if there was some way that I could give you a child and still be a maiden. It took some convincing but they eventually said yes. This is what we'll need to do: go out and shoot a young deer, a yearling and bring it back here."

My dad did as she said but it made him sad. He hated killing baby animals. He loved all animals but also understood how nature worked. Sometimes, something had to die so that another animal or person can continue to live. Anyhow, long and the short, he brought back the yearling. Despite himself, my dad was almost in tears again and, when he brought the yearling to my mom, she was apparently heartbroken too. Artemis skinned it and divided up its meat. Why did they have to do all this? I dunno. Anyway, once the whole thing was divided up, Artemis and my dad had to prick their skin and dribble blood and golden ichor onto it before they threw it into the fire. When it was all burned up, the fire suddenly died and, in the now cold ashes, lay a tiny baby boy. That was me. Yeah, I know; it's weird. I'm a combination of blood, ichor and deer meat ashes.

Anyhow, I grew up with my dad until I was six and they were the happiest years of his life. But my dad died on a hunt when I turned six and my mom came and picked me up. From then on, I was raised with the Hunters of Artemis. When I turned fifteen, my mom took me on a hunt with her, just her and me. During that hunt, she explained that I needed to go to a place that was safe for demigods. She told me about a place in New York called Camp Half-Blood. I understood and she said that, the day after we got back from our hunt, she and her hunters would take me there. Well, being the clever young man I was, I decided that I would strike out on my own and go to Camp Half-blood.

I was a little mad that my mom had hidden this place from me I guess because I felt lonely a lot of the time. I mean, sure the Hunters were cool. I think of them as my sisters. Zoe Nightshade was my amazing older sister but they didn't let me have guy friends. They kept saying that, aside from me of course, guys were jerks.

Anyhow, I ran off before the rest of the camp was awake, carrying my recurved longbow, my hunting knife, my tomahawk (which had belonged to my dad) and just a few other things that the Hunters carried. It was a crazy trip too. I kept getting into fights with monsters. I killed a couple of really angry boars in Nebraska, a snowy white Cretan bull in Iowa, a Hydra in Illinois, a dragon in Indiana and the Nemean Lion in Ohio. There were a couple of Cyclopes and giants too but, eventually, I made it to Camp Half-Blood. I guess that's where my story really begins.

It was about ten a.m. and I was starving when I entered the camp. Though I rarely thought about it, I probably looked ridiculous. I was in the silvery-gray garb of a hunter but over it, I wore the Nemean lion skin. My bow carrier, quiver, belt and boots were made of the white leather of the Cretan bull.

As I approached the cluster cabins and the big, three story house, kids and teenagers stopped what they were doing and looked at me curiously. I felt a little self conscious, though I tried not to show it. Just as I got to the porch of the house, a Centaur - half man, half horse, stepped out. Behind him was a big, fat guy who I knew immediately. I bowed my head and said by way of greeting, "Chiron, Lord Dionysus; my name is Arthur Price and I'm a demigod."

"Obviously, or else you wouldn't be able to enter the camp's borders;" said the god gruffly. He snapped his fingers and a diet coke materialized in his hands. "So, young Andrew Prince, who is your godly parent? Let's get all of that out of the way so we can toss you into a cabin and begin your introduction and all that."

I chewed my lip for a moment before saying, "My - uh, godly parent will be by in a day or two and, if it's all the same to you, I think they should claim me."

Dionysus's watery eyes widened and he said, "Indeed? So you know who they are but you won't reveal it."

"Uh, Mister D," said Chiron carefully, "I think we should accept this. If this young man is the child of who I think he's the child of, it would be for the best in the end."

"If you say so;" said Mister D with an obvious lack of interest. "Anyhow, put him in the Hermes cabin for now and..."

Suddenly, a feminine came from behind me. "Mr. D, Chiron, who is this?"

I turned and behind me stood a pretty girl with curly red hair, jeans and an orange Camp-Halfblood t-shirt. "Ah, Rachel, my dear - this is Arthur Price. He's a new camper. Would you be so kind as to show him to the Hermes cabin, please?"

She nodded and I followed her. "We'll stop by the camp store and grab you some stuff you might need."

I shrugged, "Thanks but I have everything here in my duffel bag. Though, I suppose I should get one of those Camp Half-blood t-shirts at some point. So..." and there was a short silence before I asked, "what cabin are you in?"

Rachel smiled and said, "Oh, I'm not technically a camper. I'm not a demigod at all. I'm Rachel Elizabeth Dare, the Oracle of Delphi."

My eyes widened. "Wow... that's pretty cool. My mom told me a little about Oracles. So you can see the future, right?"

Rachel nodded. "Yup though not consistently; Lord Apollo just freed the Oracles from the control of- you know what? It's a really long story. Suffice to say that prophecies come to me on their own time. So, you said your mom told you about Oracles? Who is she?"

I suddenly realized that I had slipped up slightly. "Um... Forget I said that. I'm gonna wait until my mo- um, my parent claims me."

She laughed and said, "Well your secret is safe with me, Arthur. Anyhow, here we are - Cabin 11."

She knocked on the door. Immediately, two kids who looked like twins opened up and grinned broadly. "Hey Rach; who's the pretty boy?"

"Pretty boy?" I demanded, slightly miffed at the description. "Travis!" said Rachel indignantly. "This is Arthur Price. He hasn't been claimed yet. Set him up on a bunk and- oh heck, you know the drill."

Travis nodded and said, "Yup, sure do. Come on in, Art. You don't mind if I call you Art, do you?"

It didn't really bother me and I said so. They brought me to a bunk with a sea chest at the foot of it. I neatly stored away my belongings, all but my weapons of course, and changed into a pair of jeans and, once they got me one, an orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirt that was a size too big. The first think I did was cut the sleeves off. Like my moms, my hair is light brown and my eyes are silver-gray. The rest of my features were my dads. Anyhow, just to be careful, I locked up my sea chest and set a trap to it to make sure that no one messed with it. That done, I left the cabin.

It was a glorious day outside, warm for a early summer day in New York. I looked around my new home, please with what I saw. There was an archery range, stables, an amphitheatre, a canoe lake and all kinds of other stuff. Suddenly, I heard the clop of hooves headed my way. Instinctively, I reached for my bow but stopped myself, knowing that I was perfectly safe. The Centaur Chiron galloped up with patronly smile. "I'm glad to see you're all settled in, my boy. Why don't we head over to the archery range, see how good you are with that bow?"

I grinned, all too eager to show just how good I was. There were quite a few other campers. One of them, obviously the one running the archery range, smiled and said, "Hey, I'm Will Solace, son of Apollo. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood."

"Nice to meet you, Will. My name is Arthur Price."

He waited for a moment for me to mention my godly parent but when I didn't, he asked, "Need any help with your archery skills?"

Unable to keep the grin from my face, I unslung and strung my bow, saying as I did, "Not sure; why don't you tell me?"

Quickly, I fired arrows until my quiver was empty and the target's bullseye was completely gone. Will and Chiron were both stunned and I headed towards the target, whistling cheerfully as I went. "Oh. my. gods." came a voice from behind me. Turning, I saw a very pretty girl staring at me. I blushed slightly and smiled before pulling my arrows out and walking back. "Well, it's safe to say you don't need any help with your archery. I bet you're a son of Apollo, too"

I shrugged, not saying anything. The pretty girl came up to me, batting long eyelashes. "Hello there. My name's Drew Tanaka and I'm from the Aphrodite Cabin. What's your name, Sweetie?"

I immediately began to stutter and said, "Ar-Arthur Price; n-nice to meet you."

Drew giggled. "Aww! You're so sweet! Since you don't need archery lessons, why don't you and I hang out until the rest of the campers get here?"

I was about to say that I thought it sounded great but then, someone said, "Hello, Drew; how's my cabin doing?"

We both turned and there stood two older kids, a tall, buff looking dude with blond hair and a golden sword on his hip and a very pretty girl of medium height with brown hair and a sword on hers as well. Again, my mouth fell open but, judging by how her arm was laced in his, I closed it and cleared my throat. Drew looked angry and said coolly, "Hello, Piper. How was your school year?"

"Fine, thank you;" she said before stepping forward and proffering her hand. "Hi there; I'm Piper McLean, head counselor of the Aphrodite cabin. This is my boyfriend."

The buff blond kid proffered his hand and said, "Jason Grace son of Jupiter - or Zeus to use his Greek name. Nice to meet you;"

I smiled at them both. They were friendly enough. "I'm Arthur Price and I'm waiting for my godly parent to claim me still."

It wasn't exactly a lie. I mean, I was waiting for it but that didn't mean I didn't know who it was. Piper grimaced and said, "Well I promise it will be better than my claiming experience. My mom gave me a godly makeover."

"I liked it;" mention Jason and she elbowed him playfully. I couldn't help but blush slightly and say, "I have to say that it's really cool to meet you two. You know, because your two of the seven demigods who saved the world and all that."

Piper blushed and Jason just waved it away. "Well it wasn't just us; you'll meet the other five before the end of the day. We gotta go. Talk to you later, Arthur. Welcome to camp."

I watched them go, still blushing slightly. I looked back towards Drew, who looked utterly disgusted. "What?" I asked innocently. She just snorted and walked away, her nose almost literally in the air. "Wow..." I muttered, "I'm here for an hour and I'm already kicked to the curb by a pretty girl."

"Trust me, buddy;" said Will Solace, "you don't want to get mixed up with Drew. She's a real piece of work. It's her goal to break as many hearts as she can in this camp."

I chuckled. From what I understand about the goddess Aphrodite, it was like mother like daughter. Chiron cleared his throat and said, "Well it's almost lunch time. Let's go, everyone."

We all went to a lunch pavilion and each cabin also had their own table. Jason Grace was sitting alone at the Zeus table. Looking around, I noticed that all of the tables except two had more than one person at it. The Hermes table had quite a few, as did the Apollo table and the Aphrodite table. However, two only had one person each sitting at theirs. One was the Zues table and the other, I found out by asking Will, was the Hades table. It was occupied by only one person - a kid in black jeans and a black bomber jacket. He looked gloomy and brooding but Will kept glancing at him and shooting him smiles and friendly winks.

I chuckled. Suddenly, Chiron clopped his hooves loudly and said, "Alright, Campers; we have two new campers to welcome. Please welcome Arthur Price - stand up please, Arthur;" and I did, "and Sarah Bertelly - stand up please dear."

Across from me and a little further down the table stood a girl about my age. She was as tall as I was with straight red hair and a spattering of cute little freckles. She was really pretty. I stopped myself staring just before she looked at me. When I looked back at her, I noticed her eyes were green and she had what appeared to be a challenging look in her eyes. What was that about anyway? Chiron continued. "Please make them feel welcome. I'm sure they will be great additions to capture the flag tomorrow."

There was a cheer and I grinned. My mom's lieutenant Thalia Grace - wait a second, didn't that Jason kid say his name was Jason Grace. I wonder if they're related. Anyway, Thalia said that capture the flag was a full contact sport here. We all sat down and out of nowhere, plates appeared. "Sooo... how does this work? My plate's empty."

Travis Stole winked and said, "Watch this, dude."

He looked at his plate and glass and suddenly, a steak, mash potatoes and broccoli just appeared in the blink of an eye. In his glass, cola of some kind suddenly appeared. "Woah!" I said. He nodded. "Cool, right? Just think about what you want. Oh, and don't forget to sacrifice to the gods before you eat. Just dump a portion of your meal into the brazier over there."

I looked down at my plate and thought really hard. A bison burger, sweet potato fries and asparagus. I grinned and then looked hard at my glass. It filled with vanilla cream soda and I was psyched. Hastily, I cut the burger in half - it was massive so I knew I wouldn't be able to eat all of it, and went over to the brazier. With a quick prayer to my mom, I dumped half the burger, a few fries and some of the asparagus into the flames. I caught just a wiff of the most pleasant fragrance I've ever smelled before going back to my seat and eagerly digging in.

It was a really good time. We all joked and ate and laughed and such before cleaning up and heading back to activities. Chiron grabbed me and Sarah Bertelly. "I think that you should stay with me for the day. I'll show you around a little more."

The remainder of the day was spent pleasantly, checking everything the camp had going on. We saw the fighting arena wear warriors trained with spears, swords, axes and shields. There was the climbing wall, which also had a lava fountain apparently. The canoe lake was nice and the Naiads were really nice, batting their eye lashes and giggling. My mom had told me about them and I had run into a few during the trip here. I just smiled and said thanks before we moved on.

The last thing that Chiron told us about was the great pine tree, the one that I assumed used to be Thalia Grace, the golden fleece of course and the dragon that was guarding them. Also, the Athena Parthenos stood not far away, keeping endless watch for the Greek demigods and their camp. By that time, the sun was beginning to set and it was almost dinner time. Chiron led us back to the pavilion as everyone else was arriving. Jason and Piper were hugging and backslapping six other kids before pointing us out. The whole group came over and introduced themselves. The first was a kid with black hair and blue eyes. "Hi. My names Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon; welcome to camp. You'll both love it here."

Beside him was a beautiful blond girl with stormy gray eyes. "I'm Annabeth Chase, Daughter of Athena. Welcome. If you need anything, come and find us. We'll help you out."

I was getting overwhelmed but two more kids stepped up. One was a huge Asian dude with black hair. With a grin, he said, "I'm Frank Zhang, son of Mars - the Roman version of Ares. Good to meet you. This is my girlfriend."

She was dark skinned and gorgeous; were all female demigods so hot like ones I had met so far? "I'm Hazel Levesque, Daughter of Pluto. Well, I guess here, they call him Hades."

I was totally geeking out. This was all seven of the heroes from the Titan war. The last two was a short little Hispanic kid and a drop dead gorgeous girl, both looking to be about sixteen. "Hola!" said the guy. "Names Leo Valdez, me padre is Hephaestus. Most people around here the Bad Boy Supreme and OUCH! Caly!"

The girl who had just elbowed him gave him a severe look and then smiled at me. "Ignore my boyfriend and his inflated ego. I'm Calypso, Daughter of Atlas."

That froze me. "Atlas - like, the Titan Atlas?" but then I blushed, feeling ashamed. She did too and looked down. Immediately, I apologized. "I'm sorry. That was rude. It's a pleasure to meet you - all of you. I'm Arthur Price and I haven't been claimed yet."

Sarah Bertelly introduced herself too but apparently hadn't heard of them before - which made sense. She was raised in the world of gods, demigods and monsters so why would she have? I on the other hand was losing my mind with excitement. I tried hard not to sound like a fan girl but I doubted I did very well. These guys and girls were just so awesome! Chiron was laughing as we got to the pavilion. It was the same drill as last time; wish your food onto your plate, sacrifice a portion to the gods and ate our fill. After that, we headed to the amphitheatre. There was a massive bonfire and we sang camp songs and told stories. To my surprise, Sarah stood and began to tell a story. I sure wasn't going to stand up. She told a story about a woman who pretended to be a man in ancient China. It sounded really familiar until I realized that she was re-telling Mulan. It must have been the real story and not the child friendly version Disney came up with.

Suddenly, as she finished her story, a hot wind blew and above her, the symbol of a boar appeared - the symbol of the war god Ares. Chiron looked serious as he said, "All hail Sarah Bertelly, Daughter of Ares."

We all bowed and I immediately felt myself being just slightly intimidated. This gorgeous red head was the daughter of the war god. She looked at me and gave a smirk. Why the heck was she looking at me? I was nobody. Quickly, she went and sat among her siblings. The head of the Ares cabin, Clarisse La Rue welcomed her with a hefty back slap. Suddenly, Percy Jackson, who was sitting in the row behind me, leaned forward and said, "Don't worry buddy; I'm sure your godly parent will claim you soon enough. Will Solace told me you were a heck of an archer."

I blushed and smiled. It was nice to be recognized, especially by one of the seven heroes. After awhile, I looked up and saw the full moon. It made me feel really restless so I got up and left shortly after Sarah's story. Chiron gave me a knowing look but didn't say anything.

It was nice to wander the camp in the bright glow of the full moon. It was so invigorating and I felt like laughing, wanting to just run out into the woods. Just before I took off, someone said behind me. "Hey, Arthur. You okay?"

I turned and saw seven heroes and Calypso looking at me with concern. "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just the full moon. It makes me feel restless and energized. That's all."

I was almost giddy. However, they still looked skeptical. Unable to stay still and wanting to just run, I said, "Come here, I need to tell you something but you can't tell anyone - not until my mom gets here. Promise on the River Styx you won't say a word."

They all did if slightly hesitantly. "Now, don't freak out but my mom is Artemis, goddess of the hunt and the moon. That's why I'm so hyper right now."

All of them were wide eyed and stunned into silence. Finally, Annabeth said, "I mean, I know my mom managed to be a maiden goddess but how the Hades did that happen?"

I blushed and couldn't help but ask, "How did you and your siblings happen?"

Immediately, I felt a little guilty. "I'm sorry, that was rude. It's a bit of a story but, like Athena, she's still a maiden goddess. Anyhow, she'll be here tomorrow and or the day after and you'll know that I'm telling the truth."

They all nodded skeptically. After a short pause, Piper asked, "So, what are you up to?"

Unable to help myself, I laughed and said, "I'm going for a run! Percy, how does it feel when you get into the water, especially salt water?"

He grinned and nodded knowingly. With a laugh, I took off, yelling over my shoulders, "Tell Chiron that I'll be back by curfew!"

To my surprised, they all laughed and followed, bolting after me like they were trying to catch up. I slowed until the group was with me and we pelted into the woods. Chiron had told me that there were monsters in there but I didn't care. I was armed and I had eight friends with me. I dared, I DARED any monster to challenge me right then and there as I vaulted fallen logs and hurtled rocks, whooping like a mad man.

We ran up back to the cabins, exhausted and satisfied and said good night, closing the doors behind us just as curfew was supposed to begin. With a big grin on my face, I went over to my bunk, changed into something to sleep in. With a sigh, I plopped down and immediately fell asleep.

The following morning, I felt fresh and energized, like I had drank a big cup of coffee without the jitters or the inevitable crash. With a big grin, I jumped up and got into a pair of jeans and a green t-shirt. It was a little tight but that couldn't be help. Using a bow like mine, most shirts were a little tight.

You see, using an old-school longbow, especially one that was recurved like mine, took a ton of upper body strength and I had been using a bow since I was five. Each time I outgrew one, I made another or my mom gave me one. My current one was actually a gift from my uncle Apollo. I headed towards the pavilion but before I got there, I saw a big group of silver clad women coming. It was the hunters and, despite the fact that I knew I was probably in huge trouble, I ran to meet them. Seeing me, they all gasped and ran towards me. It was the biggest group hug I've ever gotten as my thirty sisters mobbed me, all of them yelling at me for running away as they did. Thalia was the one who was nearly crushing my ribs. "What were you thinking, you idiot? Lady Artemis was worried sick! She's going to kill you or worse, turn you into a jackalope!"

I couldn't help but chuckle. My mom did enjoy turning people, and by people I mean boys, into jackalopes. The whole of the camp was watching now with interest, including Chiron and Mister D. I watched nervously as the Hunters parted and my mom walked up to me. She wasn't in her usually twelve year old girl form. Instead, she looked like she was at least in her late twenties and was almost as tall as my six foot, six inches. I readied myself for a lecture but, instead, she just asked, "Are you alright, Arthur?"

"I'm fine, Lady Artemis;" I said, bowing my head. She nodded, like she wasn't surprised and then hugged me. Looking around, she announced so that everyone could hear. "I claim Arthur Price. He is my son."

As they had for Sarah the night before, all the campers bowed and Chiron said, "All hail Arthur Price, son of Artemis."

He and Mister D were the only ones who didn't seem surprised. After the campers stood, a long silence followed until Artemis turned to the Hunters. "Girls, go to breakfast. Thalia, please gather Arthur's belongings from Cabin 11 and bring them to Cabin 8. Arthur, go with Thalia. Come to the breakfast pavilion when you're done."

I nodded and Thalia grabbed my hand. As soon as we were out of earshot, she started lecturing me again. "Lady Artemis might not be mad at you, but I still am. What were you thinking?"

I threw an arm around her and smiled, "Oh come on, Thals; you and mom taught me everything I know except for the basics of how to use a bow. Surely you didn't think I would die, do you?"

She 'hmphed; and tried to hide a smile but I knew her anger was going away. That was good. She used to use her spear to give me little static shocks when I was little. "Just because you can handle yourself like a champ doesn't mean that me and the other didn't worry like crazy about you."

I sighed and said, "I know and I'm sorry. I didn't think of that until I had reached Nebraska already. I'll make it up to all of you, I promise."

"You'd better, Moonboy!" she said, unable to keep from laughing and elbowing me in the ribs lightly. "Moonboy?" I said in mock anger. We laughed and gathered my stuff from the Hermes cabin. No one had messed with it. The Artemis Cabin, my new home, was fully furnished and looked like it had been lived in before. "The hunters use it whenever we're here;" Thalia explained. I shrugged and found an unused bunk, putting my stuff away again. It was a nice cabin. That done, we headed back out. The seven heroes plus Calypso were waiting. With a broad grin, Thalia hugged each of them. When she hugged Jason, my suspicions were confirmed when he chortled, "Hey, little sis. How are you?"

She punched his shoulder. "Hey, I'm older than you!" she objected but he shook his head. "You would be if you hadn't been a pine tree for a few years and then gone and joined the hunters."

"Have you been nice to my little brother?" she demanded, indicating me. I chuckled and said, "Yup. They all gave me a very warm welcome, Thals. Come on. Let's go eat. I'm absolutely starving."