Chapter 1

"Maddy, wake up!" my foster mom called from the kitchen. My life hadn't been easy. I had crippled toes and a metal pinky finger on my right hand. I've had a lot of foster parents before I finally gave up and my dad, Hephaestus, led me to the woman who would take care of me.

Her name is Sally Jackson.

My name is Andromeda, but I didn't really have a name until I found Sally. My name had been "it" or "her" or "that child". When I came up Sally's stairs, I had practically nothing. I had ripped jeans with a big hole in the knee and a torn leather riding vest. Sally's face had fallen with disbelief as she stared at the six-year old girl standing at her doorstep, no where to go. My black hair had been all knotted and messed up, and I had been grateful that Sally let me take a shower at her place and she even brushed out my hair for me. Sally had named me Andromeda sort of after her son, Perseus. Perseus had been the one who saved Andromeda from the rock she was chained to. He had the best luck.

Since then, Sally has probably called me her own, but Percy, my sort of new brother, doesn't even know I exist. Sally doesn't know I'm a daughter of Hephaestus, and she doesn't believe me. Well, you see…my dad's really ugly. Not just the kind of ugly where, "Ew, she has big eyes." I mean like, wrinkle faced "What happened to you?" ugly. He is the guy who got thrown off a cliff by my grandmother, Hera, whom I've never met. My mom I'd never met, either. I can't remember.

"Maddy," my mom said more sternly.

"Coming," I mumbled. The smell of waffles entered my nose and breathed deeply. Sally always made blue food; she explained that it had been something to do with her son. I sat myself at the counter and she served me, then came over and ruffled my hair.

"Its summer, Maddy," she said, giving me a weak smile. "You promised you'd go try out that summer camp I've been telling you about. Percy's there. I'm sure he'll be nice to you and show you around."

"No one ever likes me," I said, putting my face in my hands. "When I was five, everyone called me Cripple at school. No one was my friend. What makes you think they'll like me there?"

Sally kissed the top of my head. "They're all like you, Maddy. They're sure to like you."

"Whatever," I said, pushing my plate forward so I could lay my chin on the table. "What about you?"

Sally sighed. "You're so much like Percy, Maddy. He worried about leaving me behind just like you do. But I have no control over you guys. You're both demigods, so…you're both strong and need to learn how to be stronger." She gave a longing smile down at me. "I'm driving you there later."

Without questioning, I just stood up and went to get dressed for camp, throwing a bunch of random clothes together and putting on a red shirt and jeans. When I came down, Sally was waiting for me by the door. "Ready, kiddo?" she asked, pushing me gently out the door.

The entire ride I just looked out the window at the passing trees and houses and thought about how I was leaving Sally behind.

"Okay, sweetie, you go on ahead," Sally said, pulling up in front of big trees with a big sign that said "Camp Half-Blood" on it.

"What is this place?" I mumbled, giving Sally a hug and jumping out the door. The entire way up the hill I waved back to the best mom I'd ever had.

"Give my love to Percy!" she yelled out to me before backing out of the drive and pulling away. I kept going up the hill where I was greeted by an old looking man with…hmm, a horse for a bottom. Compared to things I sort of remembered, this man didn't seem all that intimidating. And he had a nice, wrinkly face.

"Maddy," horse-bottom said to me, smiling. "I see you've finally arrived. We've been waiting." This surprised me, but I'd learned to keep my emotions hidden a while ago.

I realized there were four kids standing at the top of the hill behind horse-bottom. One had floppy black hair and had a nice smile on his face. A girl had golden hair, kind of like straw, and deep stormy gray eyes. There was another boy, too, but he looked short for his age since he was growing a goatee. There was a second girl, too, whom I liked the best. She had pointy black hair and electric blue eyes and wasn't Goth but wasn't punk either.

"Nice to meet you, Andromeda. I'm Chiron," the man said, extending his hand. I shook it. "In case you're wondering, I'm a centaur." I nodded, just kept my gaze locked on those four kids. "Well, since you're not paying attention, I'll let you go meet them."

I just nodded and ran off toward the top of the hill. They stared at me as if I was Cerberus, the three-headed dog in the Underworld. "How…" the blonde head said, who was probably the rudest person I ever met.

"I'm Percy," the black-haired boy said, giving me a nod.

"Grover," said goatee-boy.

"Thalia," said the Goth-punk girl who reminded me of myself.

"Um…Annabeth," said blonde-rude girl.

"I'm Andromeda, but you can call me Maddy. Maddy Jackson," I introduced, smiling. I thought that that Percy couldn't be the Percy Sally had been talking about. He looked nothing like her.

"What…" Percy said, staring at me as if I had seven heads. "You're the girl Chiron was talking about?"

Annabeth stared at Percy intensely, I'm guessing to read his emotions, which looked pretty bad to any normal person. Then again, Annabeth didn't seem too normal. "Percy…" Annabeth began.

He shook his head. "It's okay," he said. "So…you're Maddy, the girl my mom took in? And you must be the prettiest of Hephaestus's kids ever."

I blinked. "Thanks, I, um, think." I paused. "Are you all half-gods?"

"Demigods," Annabeth corrected. "I'm Athena's daughter."

"Zeus's," Thalia said.

"Poseidon's," Percy said.

"Um, well, I'm not any god. I'm a satyr."

I must have looked confused.

"Half-goat," Grover urged. I just stared at him.

Percy leaned against Annabeth and whispered something in her ear. I looked down at my shoes, embarrassed. Thalia seemed to notice this, and she came over to me, putting a hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry about it, Maddy," she said to me, loud enough for Grover to hear, who stood there, looking like he didn't know what to do.

Grover squinted at me. "Standing next to Thalia…you're brighter, Maddy. And that doesn't usually happen. Thalia is a daughter of Zeus. She is the Princess of all gods. Not a lot of people are brighter than her." He raised his hand to his forehead. "Gee, Maddy, you're special."

This made Percy snort, who had apparently turned back to us, and Annabeth jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow, which he rubbed absentmindedly.

"The oracle said this:" Percy whispered.

"The one closest to you will be in grave danger,

Not even you can save her,

Only one from home will

But she may not be willing."

"Who's the one closest to you?" Annabeth whispered back.

Percy blushed a deep red, and then Annabeth turned purple as well. That's when I realized; Percy liked Annabeth. I almost died of laughter, but I bit my lip until I had blood to lick, which kept me occupied off laughing.

"That means…I've got to get someone who makes gems to save my life?" Annabeth muttered, and I that got me angry. Angrily, a rock came flying out of nowhere, but when I realized it was about to hit Annabeth in the head, my mind yelled, Stop! And the stone did. I gasped, amazed at my power. I could control stone. I bet Anna-crap couldn't do that. "How…?" Annabeth started, stunned. I smirked.

"Daughter of Hephaestus. Nice to meet you, Athena child." I was enjoying this more than I was supposed to. After all, Annabeth seemed like Percy's girlfriend.

Percy glared at me, and Grover looked surprised. Thalia, on the other hand, looked kind of pleased with me. "You show them, girl," she said, grinning feverishly like I was.

Yeah, Annabeth, you'll see what I can do.