Introduction

Okay, so I haven't explained this before, and the scribe from Camp was totally wrong. He wrote two whole series of books that explained our lives. But he replaced some major things. This is what really happened, from my eyes. Luke put the same thing in his diary, too, (prepare for the wet pages) but I want to do it in my own perspective. This is what really happened during my life, and Rick didn't (and should've) put it in the books, which we're translated into Ancient Greek for the dyslexic kids. Gods, don't let this fall into Percy's hands. I swear by the River Styx. So this is my story. With my thoughts. This is basically another version of the books, except it ends right at "The Last Olympian". One of my closest friends, technically my half sister in law, (Percy's young half sister) has sworn not to tell him anything and to just write a story from me explaining it to her, and put it online as a fanfiction. You mortals can't find us. But I assure you, this is real. Artemis both goes to Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter for some reason that I really can't explain, because she is located in California. Oh gods, don't even get me started on her name. It's too freaking cool. I wrote this intro down and the rest is all her. Don't you dare tell Percy or I'll slit your throat and put your remains in a jar of Greek fire. Peace!

-A.C.

Chapter 1

"Well, this is going to be our dinner for tonight," Luke said. He brought out little bags filled with microwavable army rations (Mmm... delicious) from his satchel and began to set up a fire. "Annabeth, Thalia, help yourselves. This is the best meal we've ever gotten." He was right. I was very lucky to meet them. Unfortunately, a family of mortals, especially my stepmother, (ugh) didn't understand the fear that a demigod has. So I ran away. Back to the story. Luke found two twigs, and with little effort, put one on top of the other and rubbed his hands together so friction could take over and start a flame.

I took over, willingly. Both Thalia and Luke watched a flame spark right before their eyes, and I saw Luke partially blush. I had to admit, it was kind of cute, since I sort of had a crush on him. Before I ran away from home, I searched the Internet for major survival tips and watched some tutorial videos for survival. When Dad came home, he didn't take the hint, but who cares, anyway?

Thalia took the longest sticks she could find and I sawed them to connect to make a spool. She dug two holes in the ground, stuck the two sticks in, and the longest one on top. Luckily for us, there was enough room for us to put our meals on. After two minutes, (thank the gods) the meals were ready to eat, and my taste buds were pleased enough. For me, it was like a Thanksgiving dinner. I mean, if you're on the run from monsters, there's no stopping at a house and eating a whole meal.

We then done with our meals, but it was awfully quiet, which it usually is. But it was a little bit too quiet for us. I saw both of the looks of suspicion in their eyes, as if they were agreeing with me. Suddenly, there was a faint rustle in a nearby bush, and I took out my celestial bronze dagger, as Thalia pulled out a Mace canister, which was actually a spear with a celestial bronze tip, and Aegis, the Medusa Shield. And for Luke, well, he had a golf club. Not as fierce as I thought it would be, but it's good enough.

A boy, maybe 9, wearing a winter coat, a white t-shirt, and denim jeans, popped out of the bush, and whispered something that I couldn't hear. Thalia and the boy looked somewhat similar. I could see some similarities between them, same punk style, etc. But it couldn't be. He's Asian, Thalia's not, unless Zeus took a body of a hot Asian guy, which should not have been seen as an image in my head. The guy's eyes reflected the sparks from the fire.

"Who are you? Why are you sneaking up on us?" Thalia forcefully asked.

"Come with me. You'll be safe from the monsters. And hurry. I have supplies and food," The boy responded. We stared at him and lowered our weapons. Luke and Thalia both looked at me with a look that said, Is he lying? I shook my head. As the daughter of Athena, you can tell if someone's lying or not. And I don't lie to my family. They knew that. "Well?" The boy said. "Don't just stand there, let's go!" He walked off into the dark alleyway and disappeared into oblivion. We all shrugged and walked in as well.

It felt like a dream, while it was reality. A whole house was where we were in, and the color was just like Olympus. There were four doors lined up against the wall in front of us, and each had a letter on it. XA, XA, TL, TL. "Masterchef right here, guys. What do you want to eat?" Thalia, Luke, and I turned to our left to see what looked like the inside kitchen of a five-star restaurant, with a table connected to a frame with stools. "Sit!" With no hesitation, we sat down at the nicely polished marble table, and he put down empty plates, mugs, and utensils for each one of us, except himself.

"Uh..." Luke managed to let out. "Are you going to make the food?"

The boy smiled with such dignity that it showed glimpses of moonlight shining through the tall windows. "I already did. These are special plates that will give you the food that you desire with a command."

Thirty seconds later we were a pack of wolves gorging down on our prey. I was eating my favorite pizza with extra olives (it's an Athena thing), and for the others, well, they finished in precisely a minute and forty-three seconds, which is not long enough to see what they were eating. (Don't ask me why I counted, I don't know)

"So now that you guys are good to go, I've been thinking to help you," The boy said, coming out of the hallway. He carried eight rings, and I suggested it was for each of us.

"Why?" I asked truthfully. "Why us and not others?"

"You guys," He pointed at each of us. "Are the first to travel across the whole country on foot. So I'm going to help you the rest of the way."

"How come you're helping us now?" Luke asked. "You could've helped us before-"

"You were fine before. But now you're in the East, things tend to get more dangerous," He replied. The boy sauntered over to the couch, put the rings down on a glass coffee table, and invited us over. Obliged with his kindness, I did so. "I know I should've introduced myself in the first place, but I will do so now. My name is Xavier."

"Are you a god?" Thalia asked immediately, sitting up straight, and showing an expression she has never shown before. But I could see that she had a crush on Xavier, too. And by the Expression on Luke's face, Luke didn't like it. "A demigod, like us? Or simply a mortal that can see through the Mist?" She laid back down on the back of the sofa cushion, thinking that as devil spawn.

"Neither, actually."

"What did you say?" Luke sat upright, grabbing my knife from the sheath and prying it against Xavier's throat.

"Luke!" Thalia and I both said at the same time. We both blushed.

"We have a Titan on our hands, guys. Help me out here, Thalia." Luke ordered. Thalia held back from attacking. I knew she couldn't. And I couldn't have done it either. "Thalia?" Luke faced Thalia, then me. "Annabeth?" Luke gave a low growl and pressed the knife more into Xavier's throat. "You made them fall in love with you, didn't you? DIDN'T YOU?!" (Which was weird for Thalia, liking a guy that's 6 years younger than her.)

Xavier didn't look like he was being harmed. He was staying quite calm, in fact. He didn't smile, he didn't frown. There was no expression on his face whatsoever. He spoke normally, too, even though their was much pressure put on his throat, but Luke didn't notice any of that. "Luke, please, stop!" I cried. No ichor, the blood of immortals, came down.

And a blow that Luke took unexpectedly: "Luke Castellan, stop this instant. May wouldn't want her son to be a killer." Thalia and I looked at each other, then Xavier, then Luke. May Castellan... Luke's mental mother...

"How dare you mention, her?" Luke shouted with anger and disgust. We visited her a while back, and she was crazy. May needed serious help, because she made so many PB and J sandwiches for Luke every single day, waiting for her son to come home. She tried to become the new Oracle Of Delphi, but she wasn't the one and it drove her mad, seeing her son's future. Which Luke said wasn't good. "I don't want to hear what you're going to say!"

"Okay," Xavier replied. "Then chop me up to pieces." Luke hesitated. He raised the knife, and thrusted it down, and Thalia and I winced, shutting our eyes automatically. We didn't hear anything, just breathing. When both of us opened our eyes, Luke was sitting back down, hanging his head. I took the dagger from his hand and softly put it back in my sheath. Xavier stood up and put a hand on Luke's shoulder. "I'm not going to harm any of you, I'm going to help you. I swear by the River Styx." Luke looked up at the boy and nodded. If you swear by the River Styx, and break the oath, you get a curse worse than death. (Which some of you already know)

Xavier took the rings from the coffee table and placed two down in our palms for each of us. "So," He began, putting on each ring on his ring fingers. "These rings are your protection. They are all armor with spikes that retract if needed. There are compartments to seal your weapons, and retract as well. Take this sword for example." Suddenly, a half silver and half celestial bronze sword appeared out of nowhere and was placed in Xavier's hand. All of us stared in awe. Luke was just staring at the sword. Typical, since he's always mourning for one. Xavier put his fists together like a puzzle, and what happened was that the rings were forming over Xavier's body, giving him sort of a Spartan kind of warrior armor made from celestial bronze. He put out his right forearm, which had a compartment sliding door. He slid the door open and carefully placed the sword inside. "This here is a sword which now has the ability to retract from the armor as pleased. Backbiter." The sword rushed out of the armor's sleeve, delivering a gleam of light. Once again, we were awestruck.

"I know how much you need a sword, Luke, so here. Backbiter." The sword retracted, and Xavier removed the sword from its place and handed it to Luke. Gingerly, Luke took the sword, and suddenly, leather wrapped around the sword, with a cord for wearing, forming a sheath. Luke's eyes reflected pure joy, and he stood up and held his hand out. Gladly, Xavier took it firmly.

"I'm sorry, dude," Luke promised. "I was just being cautious."

"It's alright. The blade wouldn't have hurt me anyway."

I suddenly realized something. This guy's name... He was named after the supreme ruler... Of well... Everything. The Supreme Ruler is more powerful than Chaos, the Titans, or the Olympians. It was kind of silly, since the myth is so old... And this dude is so young… And cute... Oh, sorry. Back to it. (Don't judge me, I was only 7.)

"I know what you're thinking, Annabeth, and you're right," Xavier suddenly spoke, and I jumped.

"What?!" I responded. That couldn't be. "Y-you're... Y-you're..." I stammered in shock. Thalia and Luke stared at me.

"Annabeth? What's wrong?" Thalia asked protectively. Shaking, I got up from my seat and kneeled down, bowing my head.

"Lord Xavier. My regards." I eyed Luke and Thalia, but they didn't get it. Xavier stared at me in disbelief. He went by my side, took my arm and helped me up. I could feel the warmth and power radiating through his body, and I just melted.

"Please, don't do that. I hate it when that happens," Xavier said, grimacing. Thalia and Luke stared at us, clueless.

"What's going on?" Luke asked anxiously.

Xavier sighed, plopping down on the couch. I tried not to blurt it out, and my cheeks turned red. Without the need to look at me, Xavier said, "Go ahead, Annabeth."

"Xavier's the Supreme Being!" I shouted in glee. I had a crush on the most powerful being in the whole existence of time. And the cutest. And that was the third time we were awestruck. A supreme being? Helping us? Just some three demigods on the run? It's a serious honor, trust me. And they believed me, and took it in very quickly. Then Xavier looked at the clock and back at us.

"You guys wash up and brush, okay? It's getting late, and we're moving on tomorrow morning. You best get some actual sleep." Xavier stood up and walked towards the doors. "Your doors are the one's with the first letter of you names. So, Annabeth and I share a room, and Luke and Thalia share one. The ones on the left are bathrooms, and the ones on the right are the bedrooms. Fresh beds, fresh clothes, all your size. Have a good night, guys." He went into the bedroom, waved, and left the door open.

Luke faced me and Thalia. "I'm gonna go unpack in our bedroom, and Thalia can use the washroom. Then we'll trade. Annabeth, are you okay sleeping in with Xavier? I mean, we just met him tonight, so..." I blushed, and I could see the envy in Thalia's eyes. (Which sort of looked like she wanted to make out with him or something, I don't know! He can control his age!)

"I'm fine, thank you. Good night, guys." I replied, beginning to walk to my room,

"G'night," Thalia and Luke both said, blushing. I knew they made a good couple. (I actually caught them making out once when they were on guard duty.) I went into the bedroom to get some spare clothes, and when I walked in, I saw Xavier sitting in a chair by the window, gazing at the stars.

"Are you okay?" I suddenly blurted out, covering my mouth. Xavier faced me and smiled, the moonlight reflected once more.

"Why, yes, I'm fine, thank you," He replied, standing up. "It's alright if there's one bed, right? Because I can make two, but that'll take most of the room. Or I could sleep on the floor if you'd like." I turned red immediately. Is he serious right now?

"No, no, no, it's fine... We can share a bed..." I gave a faint smile and scratched the back of my head. Putting down my rings and dagger, I opened one of the cabinets to see some nice, regular pajamas perfectly folded ready for me. I took the things I needed and headed out the door.

"Annabeth?" Xavier called after me.

"Yes?"

"Are you sure about sharing a room with me?"

"Of course!" I responded, blushing, again.

"Alright." I started going forward again. "Oh, and... um..."

I turned back to face him. "Yeah?"

"You look cute tonight." He said with a smile. I turned completely red this time. And so did he. Neither Luke, Thalia, or even my own father ever said that to me.

"T-t-thank you..." And I walked away quickly, opening and closing the bathroom door. The walls were painted as if really underwater, and the sink, toilet, bathtub, even the shower was decorated so beautifully. Giving a heavy breath, I set the clothes down, and I started taking off my own clothes, and set it in a basket for laundry. I got my hair tie out, and set it down on the countertop. I then decided to take a really good bath so I didn't stink while sleeping next to Xavier. After washing up real good, I wrapped myself in a towel, and blow-dried my hair. I put on some lotion, and put my clothes on. It felt so nice being in pajamas in such a great house. I then got a new packaged toothbrush from a cabinet, opened it and started brushing so clean, that in four minutes my yellowed teeth turned sparkly white. It was a pretty good toothbrush and toothpaste after all.

I walked back into the room to see Xavier in a t-shirt and plaid pajama pants, which was so... Oh my gods, I can't even describe it. He bowed like a gentleman and gestured me to the bed. Xavier pulled back the covers and let me in. Being right handed, I climbed towards the right side and laid down. The bed was absolutely Elysium for me. Considering not being in a bed for four years, I barely remembered what It was like to be in a real, comfortable bed. But it would be even more for Luke and Thalia, who've been running longer than me. Xavier climbed in from the left side, and moved the covers comfortably.

"Does it suit your taste?" Xavier asked politely, like always.

"Yes, thank you!" I spread my arms around the bed. "It's been forever since I've been in an actual bed."

He gave me his charming smile. "Good night, Annabeth."

"Good night, Xavier."

We both turned around to the outer side of the bed, and dozed off to sleep.

We were running for our lives. It had been 6 months traveling with Xavier, and we were so close to the entrance I could make out some of the words on the arch, "Camp Half-Blood". I'm dyslexic, so it was kind of weird looking at text normally. My dyslexia keeps me from reading actual text, I can only read in Ancient Greek. (You know that, too) We were running seriously fast with our armor on, just in case we get attacked by the Cyclopes right behind us. Thank the gods that the armor was lightweight, or else the spikes would've killed me. But that wasn't enough.

Suddenly, Thalia stopped and retracted her shield and spear. "Go! I can hold them off!"

"No, Thalia, you'll die!" Luke shouted.

Xavier, being the Supreme Lord, ran as fast as light and pulled Thalia away, but Thalia stayed. "Come on, Thalia, let's go!"

"No! I can let you guys go!"

"Thalia, stop being so stubborn and let's go!"

The giants were getting closer and closer as Xavier was trying to pull Thalia out of the way, but she remained. Then in a flash of red, the Cyclopes threw Thalia over our heads and we rushed to her side. But Xavier stayed in front of the Cyclopes, some how fending them off. Xavier rised into the air, with eyes as white as his was light circling around the Cyclopes, putting them into some kind of trance, and then the red, where the light turned into spikes of celestial bronze, piercing the skin. They crumbled to dust and Xavier came down and rushed to Thalia's side.

She was breathing real hard, and we feared she wouldn't make it. Xavier shushed her, and gave her what looked like a kiss, but he was just whispering into her ear. He put a hand on Thalia's heart, and it glowed a faint red. He picked up a nearby pinecone, broke it in half, and removed a seed. Removing his hand from the top of Thalia's heart, there was a ball of light and he put that light into the seed, and planting it right near the arch. "Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus is not dead, but now living as a tree. And this tree shall make a barrier, forbidding any threats to come in, and keep every creature in Camp Half-Blood safe from any harm."

The tree sprouted out immediately as a pine, and a blue shield around the camp, and we rushed in quickly before any other monsters came, so we didn't take any chances. And that was the dark days.

"Everybody up!" I woke up with a start. The cabin leader woke us up with a morning drill, and she came up to me. "This is from Chiron. He needs to see you in his office immediately." Okay, then? I got ready as fast as I could and arrived at his office in the Big House.

"Annabeth," Chiron said, in a hurry. "We must get to the entrance, the one's here!" He clopped toward the doorway and galloped toward the entrance. And I ran as fast as my little 11 year old legs could carry me.

I saw Grover, Xavier, and a guy that had fallen on the ground. He knocked down pretty good, and still conscious. "He's the one. He must be." I was referencing to the child of the prophecy. He looked like the one. He's the one who can let me finally go on a quest.

"Silence, Annabeth," Chiron said. "He's still conscious. Bring him inside."

It was an hour after he passed out. I snuck into the infirmary, where the nymphs and Apollo kids cared for the wounded warriors. I grabbed a bowl of pudding and a spoon and sat down next to the passed out guy. He was drooling like crazy. So I took the spoon, and smirked and scraped drool every time a droplet came down his chin. Once I saw his eyes fully open, I suddenly asked, "What will happen at the summer solstice?"

He managed to croak, "What?"

I looked around, seeing if someone would overhear. "What's going on? What was stolen? We've only got a few weeks!"

"I'm sorry," He mumbled. "I don't..."

Someone came in the room, and I stuffed his mouth with pudding. It was Xavier, and I ran towards him and got a hug. "Hey, Annabeth," He said, kissing my cheek. That was okay, since we were like brother and sister. But still, I had feelings for him. And I blushed every time. I was 11, and he was 13. It's alright. He's not too old. He stroked my curly blonde hair, and ran his fingers through it as well. "Still trying to get it out of him?"

"Yeah," I responded. "But he says he doesn't know."

Xavier looked deep into my stormy gray eyes. And I returned the favor to his dreamy, dark brown eyes. "He doesn't know, Annabeth. Don't rush it."

"Are you sure?" I asked desperately.

"I would never lie to you."

I smiled at him. "Yeah, I know. Now let's go train."

He held out his arm and I took it willingly. We walked out the doors and into the sword fighting arena.