I thought that now, everything would be perfect, no matter what the Oracle said. Surely the seven half-bloods didn't include Annabeth and me. Nothing could go wrong.
Who am I kidding? Of course something could go wrong, and of course it would go wrong.
It was the last day of Camp Half-Blood, and Annabeth and I were racing down Half-Blood Hill. At the bottom of the hill we collapsed, laughing.
"I won," I said triumphantly.
"No way, Seaweed Brain, I totally beat you," Annabeth laughed, punching me playfully (yet painfully) in my arm. She leaned her head on my shoulder and I looped my arm around her waist. We watched as Pelias got himself tangled around Thalia's pine tree, knowing my mom wouldn't mind if we were late. As the afternoon sun moved directly above us, Annabeth turned and kissed me softly.
The moment, however, was ruined by anxious voices in the nearby woods.
"Who's that?" Annabeth whispered, breaking away from me and moving quietly towards the voices. I followed behind her, and we slipped silently through the woods.
Suddenly, the trees stopped, forming a ring around a large clearing. The voices belonged to three teenagers, maybe a year or two older than me. The girl had big, bronze-colored curls and chocolate brown eyes. Her skin was pale, and her cheeks were flushed pink. She was definitely petite, but she had the pinched look of somebody who was used to eating more than they were, as did the other two boys.
One of the boys, the taller one, was discussing something with the girl. He had bright red-orange hair and tons of freckles, with big hands and slightly too-big feet.
The other boy was trailing a little bit behind them. He had unruly black hair (kind of like mine) and brilliant green eyes (even more like mine) which he wore a pair of round, black framed glasses above. On his forehead, not completely covered by his hair, was a lightning-shaped scar. Their clothes were dirty and ripped and they all looked exhausted.
Just as I was moving forward for a better look, a twig cracked loudly under my foot. The bushy-haired girl spun around.
"Who's there?" she asked, her voice quavering.
Annabeth glanced at me, and I shrugged. She grasped my hand and pulled me out of the trees. Immediately, the black-haired and red-haired boys stepped in front of the girl protectively. I held up my hands (one still curled around Annabeth's). "Hey, we won't hurt you. My name's Percy Jackson and this is Annabeth Chase. What happened to you guys?"
The boy with the black hair and the lightning scar stepped forward. "My name is Harry Potter, and this is Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. We're in a bit of a bad situation, you can tell," he said, speaking with a distinct British accent. Hermione and Ron seemed shocked that Harry would divulge this information, but then Annabeth smiled and said, "Would you guys like something to eat? Our camp's just up the hill, and there's probably still some barbecue or pizza left over from the buffet."
Surprisingly, the boys turned to Hermione for an answer. She nodded slightly. "We would love that, thank you," she said, also speaking with a British sounding voice.
They followed us out of the woods and up toward the hill. Annabeth stopped suddenly at the base of the hill. "The dragon!" she hissed, her face going pale.
I understood what she meant immediately. What were they going to think about a twelve foot long dragon curled around the pine tree? "Hopefully the Mist will cover him up," I whispered back.
But as we all neared the top of the hill and Pelias became visible, Hermione screamed loudly. Harry and Ron whipped out long thin sticks and brandished them at the dragon. A clear blue wall burst forth from the tip of their sticks, going up between them and us. "What are you playing at!" Ron yelled, waving his stick at Annabeth and me. "For Merlin's sake, that's a bloody dragon!"
Pelias snorted and moved toward Ron, but Annabeth walked up to him and scratched under his chin, and he backed off.
"Well, it looks like we all have some explaining to do, doesn't it?" I asked.