Demigod Chronicles 1: The Spear of OlympusPart 1

by greekfreak818

Melanie Minnotte lived a somewhat normal life, until she found herself a target of a monstrous attack. She eventually makes her way to Camp Half-Blood, where she promptly acquires new and unknown power. She makes some unexpected friends, and her world is flipped completely upside-down when she goes across the country with four other demigods, to find a weapon last seen in WWII.

CHAPTER 1

I have just been told that I am a half-blood. A demigod. That my mother isn't dead. She is an Olympian. A Greek goddess. Part of me is saying, Well, that explains all of the strange things happening in my life. The other part of me is screaming, NO! None of this is true! This can't be happening! But that part of me just doesn't want to believe any of this.

By the way, my name is Melanie Minnotte, but my friends just simply call me Mel. I am fourteen years old, and I live in an apartment in Manhattan with my dad and my evil stepmom. Yeah, I said evil. She is. My life started out seemingly normal, but of course, being a demigod, my life is never normal. Very shortly after I was born, my dad married my stepmom. She tried to make me believe that she was my real mother, that she had always been there, that she loved me dearly, blah, blah, blah. Those, by the way, are her words, not mine. But I knew better than to believe that devil.

"You have your mother's eyes, Melanie," my dad always said. That's how I knew my stepmom got a thrill out of lying to me. My eyes are gray. Hers are an ugly hazel, and my dad's eyes are an almond brown. I never realized that my mother was a goddess. Nobody but my dad knew. If he knew. I always prayed that he did. (Once I found out). Now, I suppose I should stop telling you about my somewhat pathetic little family, and get to the story.

First of all, I have been diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia, and I don't have a cell phone. I hate it. All of it. I was told that it would help me survive, but I never believed it. Not until now.

"Hey, Melanie, what kind of freaks raised you?" asked Claire Cleafage, the snobbiest beauty queen in school. "I bet your parents, oh wait, parent was so ugly, that when you were born, your eyes were a curse. I mean, who has gray eyes?" Claire and her snobby friends always made fun of my eyes, but I knew better than to fight back. I had to force myself not to, because, being ADHD, I always wanted to pick a fight. Especially with Claire. God, I hate that girl. Claire was one of those girls who thought wearing an overly excessive amount of makeup would make her look pretty. She was a bottle blonde (literally) but underneath all of that blonde was her natural brown color. When girls did that, it felt like they were making fun of me.

Things started to get weird when our history teacher, Mr. Jenerson, took our class on a field trip to the Museum of Natural History. We went into the reptile exhibit, but the reptiles were acting very strange. They looked like—well, like they wanted to kill me. I fingered my owl necklace, my good luck charm. A gift from my mom. I never went anywhere without it on.

"Melanie, are you all right? You look kind of pale," asked Jeffrey, the only person who stayed friends with me for longer than two weeks.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, Jeffrey, I'm fine. Just—fine," I replied. "Hey, is it just me, or does Claire have more snobs surrounding her than usual?" I asked him.

"Blah-ha-ha!" Jeffrey said nervously. "I should have known! It's them! It's them!"

"Who? What are you talking about? Is that a yes or a no?" I was so confused.

"Get ready."

"For what? You're scaring me, Jeffrey!"

"Them."

"Them? Who's 'them'? What are you talking about?"

"Oh, I have to send a message to camp!"

"Can you tell me what you're talking about, please?!" That came out a little louder than I had expected.

"Melanie, be quiet," said Mr. Jenerson.

"Sorry, Mr. Jenerson," I said.

Claire turned around and smirked at me. I glared at her, giving her my signature I'm-going-to-kill-you stare. Then, something unexpected happened. The biggest snake, which was right in front of me, lunged. Somehow, it broke through the glass, which must have been at least three inches thick, and it jumped straight out at me. Of course, I did the natural thing. I jumped backward, right into Claire, and screamed. The snake wrapped itself around my ankles, knocking me flat on my face, and it started to squeeze. Claire looked terrified and satisfied at the same time. I knew she was terrified of a snake on the loose, but she was okay, as long as it went after me.

"AHHHH!" I screamed. "Somebody help me!"

But Mr. Jenerson was too busy herding the rest of the class outside. Everyone else in the exhibit ran around, screaming. Only Jeffrey stayed. And Claire's new friends, who just appeared at school today. Jeffrey looked extremely nervous, but the girls were smiling, satisfied.

But this is where it gets weird. Jeffrey kicked off his sneakers, revealing hooves. Cloven hooves. My best friend was a satyr. A satyr. I would have fainted then and there if I wasn't already on the ground, screaming. But Jeffrey wasn't the only strange being in the room. The other girls began to change, too. From the waist up, they still looked humanoid, but their skin turned green and scaly. Their legs turned into huge, scaly, green snake trunks, and they had swords and full Greek armor, though I have no idea how I knew that.

"Scythian dracaenae! Oh no! I was afraid of this!" Jeffrey exclaimed. He gasped. "Mel! The necklace! It can kill them!"

"WHAT?! How can a necklace kill a snake thing?! It's just a necklace!" I screamed at him.

"Ssssslay the demigod, foolsssssss! Or Lord Kronossss will flay you alive!" a dracaena, probably their leader, hissed. Well, I only had a very vague idea of who Kronos was, but apparently that threat would ring true if they didn't move, because the nine or ten dracaenae lunged at me.

"It's a gift from your mom! It's an owl, right?!" Jeffrey screamed.

"What, my necklace?! Yeah, it's an owl! Why does it matter?!" I shot back, panicked and afraid.

"I can't believe I didn't see it sooner! You've already been claimed!"

"HOW DOES THIS KILL THEM?!"

"Push the beak! But be careful!"

"Why on EARTH would I NOT be careful?!" The dracaenae things were getting closer. I had no idea what pressing the beak of the owl on my necklace would do, but I panicked. I tried it, and—in my hand was a sword. A perfectly balanced, bronze sword. But I didn't have time to admire it, because I was going to die. I tried to get up, but the snake still had me by the ankles. I had no choice. I swung at a snake lady, and she exploded into yellow dust, which landed all over me. The real snake hissed and recoiled at the sight of the swinging sword. I swung again, taking out another dracaena and making the snake let go of my ankles. I jumped up, planning to take out the other dracaenae right then and there, but they had other ideas. They chased me out of the room, and we burst outside through the museum doors. Tourists screamed and ran.

I saw Jeffrey stumbling out the door, screaming, "MEL! FOLLOW ME! I'LL GET YOU TO SAFETY! THEY WON'T BE ABLE TO CATCH YOU THERE!"

"WHO SAYS WE'RE EVEN GOING TO MAKE IT THERE ALIVE?! AND WHERE IS 'THERE' ANYWAY?!" I was in a panicked frenzy. I swung, heard a scream, and I knew that I either killed a dracaena, or I cut through a tourist. I kept hoping it was just one of the dracaenae.

"I can't say it aloud! Just trust me! We'll make it! I promise! I can't let you die!" he yelled.

"Why on Earth would you—AHHHHHH!" I couldn't take it anymore. I was never the best athlete, which meant I got tired pretty quickly. I was breathing hard, and my pant leg was torn. I guess that meant the stupid dracaena had slashed at me with her (or should it be its?) sword. Why does my life always have to be like this? I slashed again. I heard a scream. Great. Four down, like seven more to go.

This time I was too nervous to even strike, because I was so afraid I would stumble and not get up in time. I just followed my half-goat friend to wherever he was taking me, this place that would supposedly be "safe" for me. We were being stampeded by seven dracaenae, so I knew our chances of staying alive long enough to reach our destination were very, very slim.

After about two or three hours of running, (I'm not sure, but that's what it felt like) we went over a hill and came upon a stone archway. At first, I didn't know what it said, so I figured my dyslexia was acting up again. But I realized it wasn't in English. It was—Greek. And, much to my surprise, I could read it. The sign said simply 'Camp Half-Blood.' What could that mean? What was a half-blood? The dracaenae charged, and I thought I was as good as dead, but they ran past me. They were trying to get through the archway! I had a terrible feeling that if they got through, everyone inside would be in danger. I had to stop them. I raised my sword and charged blindly into the midst of seven dracaenae, who could, if I made one wrong move, kill me. And that's the last thing I remember before I blacked out.

CHAPTER 2

"—should give her some nectar," I heard someone say. I opened my eyes, and saw a blonde girl talking to a black-haired boy and a middle-aged man. The kids both looked my age. Then I looked again. Then I realized that the man wasn't a man. He was a centaur. Wait a minute. A centaur?

"Yeah, Chiron, she doesn't look so good," the boy said. Then he turned to me and said, "Here, can you sit up?" He offered me his hand. I took it and tried to sit up, but pain shot through my head, so I slumped back down.

"Oh, no, you can't. Here, drink some nectar. It should help." And he was right. He trickled a drop or two into my mouth, and instantly I felt better.

"My necklace," I croaked. Then I looked down, and I saw it around my neck. I tried sitting up again, and my head didn't hurt this time. That nectar sure did the trick. "What—what happened? Where are the dracaenae? Where am I? Whoare you? Who am I? Where's Jeffrey?" I asked.

"The dracaenae are vaporized, thanks to your skill with the sword," said the centaur, who I'd guessed was Chiron, which confused me. Didn't Chiron live, like, three thousand years ago? "You are at Camp Half-Blood, on Long Island. This is Annabeth Chase, and Percy Jackson." He gestured to each of the kids in turn. "I am Chiron. You are a demigod, and you have been claimed, like Jeffrey told you earlier today. He arrived here safely. As for what happened… I think Annabeth and Percy should explain everything to you."

"But you said I've been claimed already. What does that mean, and who claimed me? Is claiming even a good thing?" I asked. I hated not knowing relatively simple answers, but right now, I didn't care. I just wanted answers. Now.

"You have been claimed by your mother. Your mother is Athena, goddess of wisdom and battle strategy. It is very rare that one of the gods would claim their child at birth, before they can even make an attempt to get to camp."

"Oh. Well, can someone tell me what happened to me? I don't remember much."

"Okay, well, uh…" Percy stammered.

"Ugh, just let me tell her, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth snapped. "Well, you see, um, what's your name?"

"Melanie."

"Ok, Melanie. From your earlier questions, you know that you got attacked by dracaenae. When you got to the camp boundary on the hill, you charged about seven or eight of them and destroyed them all. But they apparently pushed you too hard, and you blacked out. That's when we found you and brought you back here, to the camp infirmary in the Big House," Annabeth explained.

"And now, here you are, safe and sound," said Percy. I thought I saw a faint glint of humor in his eyes when he said that, but it disappeared just as quickly.

"Who are your parents then?" I asked Annabeth and Percy.

"Well, my mom is Athena like yours, which makes me your senior counselor. We're in Cabin Six. Percy here, on the other hand," she looked at Percy and rolled her eyes in disgust, "is the not-so-intelligent son of Poseidon." Percy glared at her, but she just smirked at him and sat down next to me. Percy kept standing. The three of us were silent.

"So, anyway, uh… welcome to Camp Half-Blood!" said Percy awkwardly, disturbing the silence. This time, Annabeth and I both glared at him. "What?" he said as he sat down, obviously offended. Chiron cleared his throat. We all turned to look at him. He'd been so quiet; I'd forgotten he was in the room.

"Perhaps one of you should give Melanie a tour of the camp?" he suggested.

"I'll do it!" Annabeth and Percy said simultaneously.

"No, Percy, I should do it. I'm her senior counselor."

"Well, maybe I want to get to know her better!"

"So do it later!"

"Why should I listen to you?"

"Because I'm actually intelligent, Seaweed Brain!"

"Oh, you want to go, Wise Girl?" Percy drew his sword, which was disguised as a pen.

"Bring it on, Seaweed Brain!" Annabeth drew her dagger.

And, of course, being the miserable excuse for a daughter of Athena I am, I started to cry.

"Oh my gods, Melanie, I'm so sorry! Percy can be such a pain sometimes," Annabeth said, shooting an accusatory glance at Percy.

"Hey, it was your fault too, Annabeth! Gods Melanie, I'm really sorry about Annabeth. She's just jealous," said Percy.

"Am not!"

"Are too!" They just kept arguing about whose fault it was, but they weren't helping at all. Truthfully, it wasn't either of their faults. It was at that time though, that I thought of my dad. I doubt he knew where I was. He must be so worried. My stepmom, on the other hand, would probably celebrate if I never came back. I tried not to think about that, though. I just sobbed harder.

"Stop!" I yelled through my tears. "Both of you just stop arguing! You didn't do anything!" I almost couldn't speak, I was so upset, but I guess I did a well enough job scolding Annabeth and Percy, because they both just shut up and looked at me.

"Well, what's wrong then, Melanie?" Percy asked.

He put his arm around me to comfort me, but I could tell he wasn't used to doing things like this, because his hand was a little tense. I guess he felt a little awkward. I couldn't blame him. I felt like that too. I leaned my head against his shoulder. I could feel Annabeth's gaze boring into my back. I wondered if she thought of Percy as more than a friend or not. But I didn't have time to ponder that, because I needed to call my dad. Right now.

I turned to Chiron and asked, "Is there a phone here that I can use? My dad's probably worried sick by now."

"Yes, Melanie, we do have a landline, but you mustn't use the phone for too long. Demigods and technology… well, they don't really mix. So call your father, but be quick about it."

"Ok. I will. Thank you."

I dialed the number and waited. And waited. And waited. And waited. And—

"Hellooo?" said a cheery voice, that I knew all too well. My stepmother. Frieda.

"Frieda," I said biting back my rage. "Where's my dad? I need to talk to him. Right now. Put him on the phone."

"Oh, deary, please, call me Mom. I am your mother, after all," she said to me, her voice oozing so much false sympathy and cheeriness, I almost threw up. "What happened, sweetie? Did you get yourself into trouble again?" I couldn't stand this woman one bit.

"Frieda," I said, gritting my teeth, "you're not my mother. Now put my dad on the phone."

"Oh, all right. I suppose I can get him for you."

"Hello? Melanie? Are you all right? Where are you? What happened? Why didn't you come home after school today?" It was my dad. Thank God.

"Dad, I'm fine. Something happened at the museum. It was… an accident. A snake got out, and it wanted to kill me. But I'm fine. Stupid snake's no match for me. And I'm… at this, um, camp. It's on Long Island. Jeffrey took me here. He said I'd be safe here." I hesitated. "Dad, did you know who Mom was? I mean, my real mom?"

He sighed. "Yes, Mel, I do know. Did they tell you yet? Are you at Camp Half-Blood? Oh, please, honey, tell me you are."

"Yes, Dad, I'm at Camp Half-Blood. I—how come you never told me, Dad? Why didn't you tell me that my mother is Athena? I thought you loved me."

"I do, honey, I do. But it's dangerous for you. I wanted to tell you, believe me. But Athena told me it was best if you didn't know. That's why she gave you the necklace. She wanted you to be able to fight the minute you found out. I understand now what happened at the museum. Now tell me, have you met Chiron yet?"

"Yes. And I also met two other campers. One of them is a daughter of Athena as well. Dad, I have to go. Chiron said it isn't safe to be on the phone for too long."

"Good bye, sweetheart. I hope you like it at camp."

"Thanks, Dad."

I hung up the phone and sank back down onto the couch. I noticed Annabeth and Chiron were no longer there. I turned to Percy. "Where are Chiron and Annabeth?"

"They had to leave. Now, how about that tour?" He stood up and held out his hand. I took it and smiled up at him, ready to get outside and see my new home. I think I was going to like it here. Percy's warm green eyes sparkled, and I felt like the happiest girl in the world, and nothing could dampen my mood.

"Thanks. I can't wait." We stepped outside, and I thought to myself, This is the greatest day of my life.

CHAPTER 3

The camp was amazing. We saw just about everything you could imagine having at a Greek camp. There was the Big House, of course, a volleyball court, a lake, and a strawberry field. We saw an outdoor stadium around a fire pit, a stable, an armory, a sword arena, a climbing wall (with lava running down the side), a creek running through the woods, and an outdoor pavilion, which I learned was the mess hall. Was I forgetting anything? Oh, yeah. The cabins. There were twelve cabins, one for each of the major Olympian gods. And the cabins aren't normal, either. One was gold, and another was silver. One of them even looked like one of those ocean-side cabins. Percy and I were smiling and walking shoulder-to-shoulder the whole time.

"That one's my cabin," Percy told me.

"Who else is in the cabin with you?" I asked him.

"Just my half-brother, Tyson," he said quietly. Great. I find a guy I might actually like, and the first time I talk to him one-on-one, I hit a touchy subject.

"Percy!" a voice said behind us happily.

"AHHH!" The voice scared me. Then I made the stupid mistake of turning around before Percy did. "AHHHHH!" I screamed even louder. I grabbed Percy's arm. It was a Cyclops. A six-foot-tall Cyclops was standing before me. I was too afraid to think about drawing my sword. I looked at Percy, but it didn't look like he sensed any danger. He didn't even look afraid. He just looked uncomfortable. I wanted to smack him in the face. I'm not even sure he realized I was on the verge of running away.

"Hi, Tyson," Percy said. Percy said his half-brother's name was Tyson. That was Tyson? Percy's half-brother Tyson was a Cyclops. I just stared at him, frozen with fear.

"Why is the pretty girl looking at me like that, Percy? Is she okay?" Tyson asked, his voice full of concern.

"Oh. Tyson, this is Melanie." Percy turned to me and said, "Melanie, meet my half-brother Tyson. I'm sorry; I forgot to tell you…"

"H-h-h-hi," I managed. I was shaking now, still clinging desperately to Percy's arm. I was terrified. If only I knew this much about being a demigod before capture the flag. And we were playing tonight. I was doomed.

CHAPTER 4

"Percy, can you take me to meet my cabin mates now, please?" I pleaded. I just wanted to get away from that Cyclops; he scared me.

"Sure, Melanie," Percy said, a bit too cheery.

"You know, Percy, my friends call me Mel."

"Is that you saying that I'm your friend?" he asked me.

I sighed and rolled my eyes with a smile on my face. "Yes, you big dummy," I said, playfully hitting Percy's arm.

"Well in that case, let's go, Mel." Percy smiled at me. I smiled back. I knew then, at that moment, that Percy and I were going to be great friends.

We knocked on the door to the Athena cabin. A boy our age opened the door. He had blonde hair and gray eyes, like mine. He smiled at me, then he turned to Percy and nodded.

"Is this our new camper, Percy? Annabeth came by and told us there was a new child of Athena at camp," the boy asked.

"Sure is, Malcolm. This is Melanie." Percy turned to me. "Melanie, this is Malcolm, one of your half-brothers." Lots of introductions today.

"Hi, Malcolm; nice to meet you," I said.

"Same to you."

"Malcolm, where's the rest of the cabin?" Percy asked.

"Sword arena. I think you two should get over there. That's also where I was headed. We've got to train if we're going to win capture the flag tonight," Malcolm explained. I was glad Malcolm was one of cabin mates. He seemed nice.

"Hey, can I change first? The dracaenae shredded my clothes before," I said.

"Yeah, sure, Melanie. We laid out some clothes for you earlier. They're on your bed," said Malcolm.

Malcolm, Percy, and I walked over to the sword arena together. I felt so much better, now that I was wearing an orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt and new jeans, and I felt great. Then we actually arrived at the arena, and I saw two kids in combat armor, sword fighting. This was my kind of place. It looked awesome.

"Hey, Malcolm, Melanie," Annabeth said. Then she looked at Percy and said, "Oh, hey, Percy."

"Hey, Mel, you want to try?" Percy asked me.

I drew my sword and smiled up at him. "You're on, Percy."

"Bring it," he scoffed, smiling.

"Hey, I hope you know what you're getting yourself into, Mel. Percy's the best swordsman at camp," Malcolm whispered to me.

I laughed. "I think I can take Percy," I said.

"Don't say I didn't warn you."

"Let's go, Mel. Time to train," Percy said with a smirk.

I slammed Percy in the chest with the butt of my sword and smiled. "You're going down, Seaweed Brain. Hard."

"We'll just have to see about that, Wise Girl."

After Percy and I were outfitted in combat armor, and Annabeth explained the rules to me, we were ready to fight. Percy was going down. Percy swung, and I sidestepped easily. I lunged at him when his guard was down, and I thought he was finished. But Malcolm was right. Percy was really good. Apparently he'd been anticipating the trick, because he parried my strike and twisted my blade. But this was something I learned when my dad taught me to fence. I jumped back and pulled my sword free. Percy looked shocked. Maybe no one had ever done that to him before. I'd caught him off guard. That was my plan. I pushed him back with the flat of my blade and elbowed him in the chest. Percy stumbled backward. A smile started to creep across my face.

"What's wrong, Percy? Afraid you're going to lose?" I asked him smugly.

"No way. You may have avoided being disarmed, but that won't stop me from taking you down," Percy replied.

He thrust his sword at my chest, but I deflected the blow, pushing Percy and his sword backward. I slashed, lunged, and thrust at Percy repeatedly, hoping to wear him down. I've been fencing since I was three, so I knew what I was doing. Wear down your opponent, and disarm him. But I had a disarming technique of my own, not like Percy's. He brought his sword in a downward blow, but I sidestepped. When Percy's sword was low enough, I brought my blade down, perpendicular to his. My strike was strong enough to make Percy lose his grip on his own sword, and it clattered across the floor of the arena. Just for good measure, I pushed Percy down, and he fell backward onto the arena floor. There was a collective gasp from the other Athena campers. I suddenly felt a little uncomfortable. Percy grabbed his sword and recapped it.

"Mel, that—that was amazing. How did you—" Percy stammered.

"Oh, I, um, used to fence a little bit," I admitted sheepishly. I turned away, hoping nobody could see my face reddening.

"Aw, Mel, why didn't you tell us?" Percy said.

"Well, I—I, um—" I stammered.

He came over, smiling, put his arm around my shoulder, and gave me a hug, and I smiled back at him. He looked at me thoughtfully for a while.

"What?" I asked.

"I'm glad we're on the same team for capture the flag tonight," Percy said.

"Me too, Percy. Me too," I said.

CHAPTER 5

Capture the flag at Camp Half-Blood is so much different from capture the flag in gym class. At dinner in the pavilion, Mr. D announced that were playing tonight and everyone cheered. Then he announced, "I would also like to welcome our newest camper, Melinda Minuti."

I stood up and said, "Um, it's Melanie Minnotte."

"Sir," Mr. D prompted.

"Sir," I said, a little annoyed.

Ok, first I should explain who Mr. D is. He's our camp director, and he's also a god. Dionysus, to be specific. He apparently went after some off-limits wood nymph. Well, that's what Percy told me, anyway. So Zeus sent him here for about a hundred years or so as a punishment to him, but it was a punishment to us. Other than Mr. D being sort of stubborn, I liked Camp Half-Blood.

All the cabins had split up into two teams, red and blue. On the blue team were Athena, Hephaestus, Apollo, Dionysus, and Percy and Tyson from the Poseidon cabin. On the red team were the Ares, Demeter, Hermes, and Aphrodite cabins. I was kind of surprised to see that the Aphrodite kids were playing, because the only thing I had seen them do was fix their hair and gossip. I also had a feeling that, since my cabin had the flag for the blue team, Annabeth would put me in an offensive position. I was praying she would put Percy there with me. Ares had the flag for the red team, so this would be a tough game. Percy told me earlier that the Ares and Athena cabins usually had the flags.

"Melanie, I want you and Percy on border patrol," Annabeth said.

I locked eyes with Percy and smiled. I just hoped Clarisse and her friends wouldn't pummel me, because I had a feeling they'd be coming my way.

"Tyson and the Dionysus cabin, you guys guard the flag," she continued. "Lee, take half the Apollo cabin around the left flank as a distraction. The rest you will stay by the flag as defense. Beckendorf, take the Hephaestus cabin and lay traps around the woods, and position yourselves in groups of two to fend off the other team. The Athena cabin will come with me."

Annabeth was a great strategist, so I was pretty sure this would work. I looked at Percy and he nodded at me reassuringly. I took a deep breath and thought to myself, I can do this. It's just capture the flag. Boy, was I wrong.

Percy and I were standing by the creek, waiting for the other team to barrel across the boundary line. They were in for a big surprise, because we decided to keep my sword fighting skill a secret, at least for now. Clarisse and her friends wouldn't know what hit them.

Percy stood in the creek. He told me that he could control the water, and it could heal him, so it made sense that he stand there.

"You know, Mel, this was where Annabeth put me in my first game a few summers ago," Percy said.

"Oh, really? Then you should be good at this," I said to him.

"If you call almost getting maimed by half a dozen sons of Ares good," he said sarcastically.

I tensed. Instinctively, Percy and I went back to back, each with one side towards the creek, our swords drawn.

"What's wrong? Someone there?" Percy asked me. I could feel him tense up too.

"They're coming."

"Who?"

I thought for a second. "Stoll brothers."

"Clarisse has a cabin full of beastly brothers, and she sends the Hermes kids at us?" Percy asked, perplexed.

"They're a distraction. Aside from her own cabin, the Hermes kids are probably the strongest she's got," I explained. "But why she doesn't send her brothers after us, I have no idea."

"Well, this should be easy then," Percy said.

My eyes widened. "Maybe not," I said, suddenly afraid.

"What are you talking about?"

"Just shut up and get ready for a stampede, Seaweed Brain."

The Stoll brothers led their cabin in the charge. Percy and I knocked them all down within three minutes, even though there were two of us and about twenty of them. But the real fight was yet to come.

"Don't let your guard down, Percy. I can hear more coming."

"Who's coming, though?" he asked.

"Sons of Ares. I can feel the ground vibrating, they're stomping so hard," I said.

"But why would Clarisse send the Stoll brothers out first?"

"To catch us off guard," I explained. "They thought they'd waited long enough to fool us into thinking that they weren't sending anyone else at us. We wouldn't be ready and they'd overwhelm us. But I'm able to feel the vibrations in the ground, so to speak, so they can't fool us."

"You're the best, Mel," Percy said.

"I know," I replied, beaming. "Incoming!"

Suddenly, half of the Ares cabin was on top of us. This was not like fighting the Hermes kids. Being children of the war god, they had impeccable combat skills. But they hadn't seen me fight yet, and you can bet they were surprised. I knocked one of them into the creek fairly quickly, but the rest of them got over their surprise afterward. Now that they knew what they were up against, they were getting harder and harder to beat.

"Ow!" I yelled.

One of the Ares kids had swung at me with his sword, and it ended up cutting me across my left forearm. He slammed me in the chest, and I stumbled backward and fell. He was swinging his sword down at me again, but before he could hit me, Percy countered the strike, knocking his opponent into the creek, but not before the sword grazed his arm. It started to bleed.

"Percy!" I screamed, still on the ground.

"I'll… be fine... Ow…" Percy croaked. He rolled into the creek, and his cuts and bruises instantly healed.

"Hey, Percy, what's that noise?" I asked. "Ow." I sat up, cradling my bleeding forearm.

"It sounds like… no. It couldn't be. Not yet. They couldn't have…" Percy's sentence drifted off into nothingness.

"What are you talking about?"

"I think they got the flag," he hissed in my ear.

I gasped. "They're coming. I can feel it. Gah, curse my bleeding arm," I said.

"I'll get Chiron. You make sure they don't get past you," Percy said to me, shooting a glance at the remaining three Ares kids. "Can you fight?"

I stood up and said, "I think so." Then I turned to the Ares kids. "Bring it."

I charged at three sons of the war god with just my sword. It was just as stupid, if not stupider, than charging the dracaenae. But this time, I was wounded.

"HIYA!" I shouted as I slammed the biggest, bulkiest warrior into the creek. Great, one down, two to go. I was trying to knock the next one down, when Percy arrived with Chiron behind him.

"I'll take them from here, Mel," Percy said.

"Thanks, Percy." I was breathing heavily.

Chiron took me away from the fight and fixed up my arm.

"Thank you, Chiron," I breathed, barely able to get the words out.

"You're quite welcome, child. But be careful now," Chiron replied.

Yeah, like I could be careful playing a game of capture the flag at a camp for demigods, I thought. But out loud I said, "Yeah, sure, no problem, Chiron."

He cantered away and I jumped back into the fight. Now, it was two huge demigods against two not-so-huge demigods. Super fair. But, of course, I was in the middle of a very intense fight with the bigger one. The other three Percy and I had knocked out earlier, though slightly dazed, were starting to get up. Then, suddenly, I had an idea. I screamed, "Percy, the creek!" I hope he knew what I meant.

I guess he did, because, at that moment, all of the water in the creek surged forward, dousing the Ares kids, and, of course, I got soaked, too.

"Percy!" I screamed angrily.

"I'm sorry! Just fight! That won't slow them down for very long!" he yelled back.

Oh gods, hurry up, Annabeth, I prayed silently. Apparently my prayer was heard, because, at that moment, Tyson bounded over to help us, and I forgot about being terrified of him. At the same instant, I saw Annabeth and Malcolm leading the rest of the Athena cabin in a charge, one of them waving the other team's flag. My expression turned to shock. That probably helped us win. The guy I was battling saw my eyes widen, he turned around to look at what I was staring at, and as he did, I shoved the butt of my sword at his side and shoved him into the creek. Some of our other teammates came running to converge with us at the creek. Annabeth and Malcolm let the kid holding the flag through the crowd, and we all started cheering when he crossed the boundary. The Hephaestus and Apollo kids hoisted him up on their shoulders, and the whole of our team paraded around, just like that. This was my first capture the flag game at Camp Half-Blood, and it was just about the coolest and most fun game I have ever played.

CHAPTER 6

After the game, Percy and Annabeth ran over to me. Annabeth hugged me, and Percy looked like he wanted to, but instead he stood there and smiled awkwardly.

"Oh, just give me a hug, Seaweed Brain. You know you know you want to," I said, walking over and squeezed him. We both laughed.

"Ack! Now let go of me!" he said.

I chuckled and released Percy. Ok, so it was more like he pried me off, but same difference.

"Ok, that was the most fun game ever," I said, smiling, mostly at Percy.

He smiled back. "Yeah," he replied.

Later, at the campfire, I started talking to Percy.

I took a deep breath and said, "Percy, I need to ask you something."

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Does Annabeth, like, you know, like you?" I asked cautiously.

He looked kind of uncomfortable, but he scrunched up his eyebrows too, like he had to think about it. He looked really cute when he did that. I smiled a bit.

"Honestly, Mel? I don't know. Why?" he inquired.

"Um, I, uh, well, I—" I stuttered. I was completely tongue-tied. That never happened to me. But the reason was that I liked Percy a lot.

Percy stared at me curiously. "Mel?" he said.

"What? Oh, I, um—no reason," I finally managed.

"Oh, come on. You and I both know you're lying, Mel."

I sighed. "Ok, so I like you. Happy now?" I said, a bit snobbishly. "Sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you," I apologized.

Percy didn't say anything. He just stared at me, shocked.

"Well, it looks like somebody didn't expect that, did he?" I joked.

Percy chuckled. "No, I didn't," he said, putting his arm around me.

I leaned my head on his shoulder. I was so happy about how my first day at Camp Half-Blood was turning out.

The next morning, Annabeth shoved me out of my bed. Well, what actually happened was that, at about seven or eight, she started shaking me to get me up. When I sat up, she kept shaking and I ended up falling off of the bed.

"Dude!" I shouted indignantly.

"Your fault for sitting up, Mel," Annabeth replied.

"Psh. Yeah. Okay. Whatever," I said.

All of a sudden, we heard banging, and Percy burst through the door. He was panting hard.

"Percy, what's wrong?" Annabeth asked him, her voice rising in alarm.

"Mortal out—outside boundary—trying to—to get in—won't listen—need help," he breathed.

"Who?" I asked, guardedly.

He exhaled and said, "Just some kid, like my height, light brown hair, kind of annoying. Why?"

"Age?" I asked.

"About our age," Percy replied.

"Oh my gods. No. No, it can't be him. It can't be. I haven't seen him since…" I muttered under my breath.

"Who are you talking about, Mel?" I questioned me.

"My old childhood friend, Nicky Vogele. He—he used to, well, he used to like me a bit," I explained to them.

"I don't like him," Percy declared.

I laughed. "Oh, shut up, Percy," I said. "But I do think we have to get him to leave. Come on, I have a plan."

"I already don't like this plan," Percy complained.

"Shut up and get a move on, Seaweed Brain!" I exclaimed.

We were at the base of Half-Blood Hill when I explained my plan to Percy.

"So, when we get up the hill, you can't talk at all. Just act like my tough, overprotective, easily jealous boyfriend, okay? If you have to talk, you whisper in my ear. You got that, Percy?" I said.

He scoffed. "Yes, I know. I can do this."

"Okay, then let's go," I replied. "And follow my lead."

Nicky was sitting cross-legged at the top of Half-Blood Hill, his back turned to us. He was staring at Thalia's tree. I pretended to be surprised when I saw him sitting there.

"Oh my gods! Nicky? Nicky Vogele? Is that you? It's been—how long?—six years?" I exclaimed.

"Melanie?!" Nicky asked, shocked. "Melanie Minnotte?"

I sat down next to him and hugged him. I turned to look at Percy to see his expression. I hoped Percy thought that this was a part of the plan. In a way it was, but it was also for me, as a way to remind myself that my old friends were still within reach. His expression was rock solid, almost undecipherable, but I saw that he had the slightest look of an angry, jealous boyfriend. Perfect, I mouthed to him. His mouth quivered with just the faintest of smiles. I wouldn't have to worry now; Percy understood exactly what I was doing.

"Oh, Nicky, I have to introduce you to someone," I said.

"Okay," he replied, unnaturally calm.

I got up, held out my hand to Nicky, and pulled him over to where Percy was standing. I walked to stand next to Percy, and he put his arm around my shoulder.

"Nicky, this is my boyfriend, Percy. Percy, this is my friend, Nicky." Percy leaned over and whispered into my ear, "Are you sure this is going to work?"

"It'll work," I hissed.

Then I kissed Percy on the cheek, to see if it would have any effect on Nicky. I hoped it would, and it did. Nicky's eyes widened, and he looked absolutely crestfallen. I felt so bad for him, but this had to be done.

"Hey, Mel, what's all that stuff out there?" Nicky asked.

"What stuff?" I asked.

"Out there." Nicky pointed towards the camp.

"Oh, that's just… the strawberry fields. That's it, nothing exciting," I replied, trying to act casual and nonchalant.

Suddenly, I felt something strange in my mouth, like my teeth were getting too big. My eyes widened, and I felt something weird happening. I guessed that my eyes had turned a different color or something, because Nicky and Percy stared at me as if I had just turned into the Hydra.

"Ow!" I yelled. I fell face first onto the grass.

"Mel!" Percy exclaimed. "What happened? Why'd you fall?"

I turned and glared at him. "You know Percy, when someone falls on their face, it's not by choice," I retorted.

"But Mel, what doesn't make sense is why your mouth is bulging outward and your eyes went from gray to orange," Nicky said.

I curled up, involuntarily, into a fetal position and growled. That just wasn't right in any way at all. I felt like I was getting smaller, or I might have just been getting curled up into a tighter little ball. I was able to smell the fear on Percy and Nicky. Wait, smell the fear? None of this felt right. Then, I felt a surge of power and strength. I jumped up and roared a challenge to those who were foolish enough to attack me. I was a huge, dark orange, fully-grown Siberian tiger. At first I couldn't control the tiger instincts, and I turned on Nicky. I bared my teeth, ready to attack, when I got the tiger under control. Unfortunately, it was too much for Nicky, because he bolted down the far side of the hill, away from the camp, and put as much distance between himself and me as he possibly could. Fortunately, Percy wasn't afraid of me, because I think he realized that it was me.

"Mel, what happened? How did you do that?" Percy inquired.

Do you really think I know how I just did that, Seaweed Brain? It just happened. But we'll have to—wait, I'll have to figure out how to control the changes and the animal instincts. I almost killed Nicky before. I probably would have if I didn't get the tiger under control in time, I said to Percy.

Whoa, that was cool. I could communicate with my thoughts in this form.

"You just spoke with your mind. That was insanely cool. And so is that ability. That would be a wicked combat tool," Percy replied.

If tigers could smile, I would have. And I agreed with Percy, this would be amazing in a battle. As long as I could control myself. I'd have to figure that part out later, though.

"Hey, Mel?" Percy asked me.

Yeah? I saw a smile creeping across Percy's face. Uh, Percy? What's with the creepy smile? Then it dawned on me. Oh my gods, Percy, is this going to be one of your insane plans that I'm going to sooner rather than later learn to hate?

"Yeah, you better get used to it, Wise Girl," Percy replied. "But what do say we show this to everyone else?"

No problem. I got this, Seaweed Brain. I know exactly what you mean. I roared, calling down to the campers. I ran down the hill, which was actually just a couple leaps for me, and Percy had to sprint to catch up. When I got to the bottom of the hill, I roared once again, to ensure that everyone at camp came.

Percy, get on my back, I told him.

"Why?" he asked.

When everyone gets here, I want them to know that I'm a friend and not a foe when they see me. If you're sitting on my back, the campers will know that I won't hurt them.

"Good point, Mel," Percy said as he swung over onto my back.

Yeah, duh, I know.

Percy reached forward to pet me, so I turned my head around to lick his hand. He laughed, and I purred. I started to see some of the campers coming to see what my roaring was all about.

"Percy, what—what's going on?" Annabeth asked, fear rising in her voice. "Why are you on a tiger?"

I started scratching at the ground with a forepaw. The tiger sensed their fear, and it wanted easy meat.

I can do this, I told myself. I can keep this tiger under control.

Annabeth, it's me. Percy and I—we don't know what happened to me, but we thought we'd show this to you all now, I explained to her.

"Mel?" she asked, shocked.

The other campers started murmuring amongst themselves.

"Melanie, are you sure you don't know what happened to you?" Chiron asked, walking slowly forward.

I could sense that even he was afraid. I guess no demigod had ever turned into a tiger before. Then Mr. D stepped forward, pushing through the crowd of campers.

"Well, well, that is one impressive tiger, Minuti," he said, looking me over.

Minnotte, I corrected him.

"That's what I said," Mr. D replied.

I felt a small amount of pride welling up inside of me due to his praise, though, but it was quickly washed away when I felt Percy's hand tense up on my back. I guessed Mr. D had never complimented him before.

I shook off the guilt and turned my gaze back towards Chiron. Honestly Chiron, all I know is that when Percy and I were up on the hill, something just happened, and this was the result of it.

"Nonetheless, we will have to figure this situation out," Chiron said.

"But Chiron," Annabeth started, "this would be really powerful in battle. Why are you saying that we have to figure it out?"

There is a little drawback, though, I said, but I don't think it'll be a problem once I start changing more often.

"What is it, Mel?" Annabeth asked me.

Well… I kind of almost killed Percy before.

"What?!" Annabeth exclaimed. "Mel, what do you mean?"

The instincts of the tiger… it was a little hard to control at first.

"Mel, you have to be careful. That's extremely dangerous, especially with an animal like a tiger," she told me.

Did you really think that I didn't take that into consideration, Annabeth? I retorted. I've got this under control.

"You guys want to see a demonstration?" Percy asked slyly.

I turned on him and glared. What did you just say? I growled.

He didn't answer, but he drew his sword instead. I bared my teeth and dropped into a crouch, snarling at Percy. I crept forward a few steps, tensed my muscles, and sprang at Percy, claws unsheathed.

"Oh no! Mel, claws in! Claws in! Ah!" Percy screamed.

Well, you asked for it, Seaweed Brain, I snarled.

"I'm not wearing armor!" he shot back.

I snorted in disgust. Ugh, fine, have it your way. But you're still going down, Percy. Hard.

I sheathed my claws, just as I barreled into Percy. He fell flat on his back, winded from the impact of my weight.

I warned you, I said to him. I bolted towards the woods, Percy hot on my heels. I was about to turn and face him, but I thought, Why not climb a tree and surprise Percy? I only hoped that the branch I spotted would hold my weight. I leaped upward, my claws gripping the tree trunk. I heaved myself up the tree, and eventually I pulled my front paws up onto the branch. As I scrabbled to get my back half up onto the branch, it shook and buckled under the massive tiger that was me. I thought the branch was going to snap as soon as I got one of my hind paws onto it, but it suddenly started to shake less and less. What's going on? I thought. I felt lighter, leaner, and smaller. My shaggy tiger fur grew shorter and got lighter, becoming a very light tan in color. My stripes shifted around, becoming spots; the spots rearranged themselves on my fur, making patterns of circles. My teeth shrank a bit, to fit the animal I was now becoming: a leopard. I had no idea why I had just changed again. Percy! I screamed. Percy! Annabeth! Percy found me up in the tree and brandished his sword. I leaped off the tree branch, landing on Percy, pinning him down.

Don't. Even. THINK about it, I snarled, my snout an inch from Percy's face.

"What happened?" Annabeth ran over. She stopped, staring in shock as she saw a leopard snarling down at Percy. I saw her face and got off Percy.

Annabeth, it's me. I—I changed again.

"How?" she asked me, bewildered. "I don't understand any of this."

She looked frustrated. I guess Annabeth hated not knowing answers just as much as I did. I guess it was a child of Athena thing, our mother being the goddess of wisdom.

I tried to climb a tree, and—

"Tigers can't climb trees," Annabeth interrupted me.

You think I don't know that? But I have the human capability to do things that a real animal can't do.

"But that doesn't explain the change."

I climbed up to a low branch. When it felt like it would break, I started to change, I guess because of the… environment I guess you could call it. You know, in trees instead of on solid ground.

"Ah. But…" Annabeth trailed off.

How will I change back into a human? I don't know. Maybe… I concentrated on my human form. I pictured a leopard changing into me. I squeezed my eyes shut tight. My legs felt weak, and I collapsed on my stomach. I felt like I was getting smaller and smaller with each passing second. I shrieked in pain.

"Mel!" Percy and Annabeth screamed simultaneously. They rushed toward me, but Chiron galloped over to hold them back.

"Don't," he said to them. "This battle is for Melanie to fight alone."

"But—but Chiron. She—she's in pain," Percy said.

I rolled over onto my back and looked down at my feet. They were human. I was human again. A thought struck me, and instinctively I reached up to where my necklace should be. I breathed a sigh of relief; it was there. The last thing I remember before falling asleep was seeing Percy's face smiling over me.

CHAPTER 7

I woke up in the Big House, with Percy and Annabeth standing beside me. Well, Annabeth was standing; Percy was sitting on the edge of the couch, holding my hand.

"So," he said, "how you feeling?"

I tried to sit myself up. As I struggled to sit up, Percy let go of my hand and put his hand on my back, helping me to sit up. After he was sure I was sitting and I wouldn't fall, Percy swung his arm around my shoulder.

"Tired," I said, like that should be obvious. I thought it was pretty obvious, but Percy may not have thought so.

"I expected that," Annabeth said.

"I know how you feel, Mel. The same thing happens to me when I control the water," Percy said to me.

"It's a thing with special demigod powers, that we get drained of our energy if we use it for too long without resting," Annabeth explained. She turned to Percy and added, "Doesn't that happen when Nico summons the dead?"

My eyes bugged, but Percy simply said, "Yeah. Yeah, it does."

Percy looked over, and he saw my eyes widen. "Oh, Mel, Nico is—"

There was a knock on the door that stopped Percy from explaining. Annabeth started towards the door. "I got it," she said.

She flung the door open, and when she saw who was behind it, she froze.

"Hey, Percy, Annabeth," the boy said. He turned to me. "Hey."

"Hi," I said awkwardly.

Okay, I should probably tell you about this kid. He looked twelve, and he wore all black: black T-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers, and black aviator jacket. The only thing he wore that wasn't black was a silver ring, shaped like a skull. He had a black sword at his side; it looked like it was iron or something. He had pale skin, black hair, and deep, dark eyes. Basically, he looked like a gothic demigod. Instinctively I clutched my owl necklace, which was really a sword. The kid seemed alright, but I'd never liked goths; they were always depressed, and they had the strangest ideas about everything. But Percy didn't seem to think anything was wrong.

"Hey, Nico," he said.

"Hi, Nico," Annabeth echoed.

Wait a minute. That's Nico? I thought. Then I remembered what Percy said a few moments ago, about Nico summoning the dead or something. That kind of explained the black clothing.

Percy seemed to have read my mind. He turned to me and said, "Mel, this is Nico di Angelo, son of Hades." Then he shifted his gaze to Nico and said, "Nico, meet Melanie Minnotte, daughter of Athena."

I managed to meet Nico's deep, intense eyes. They were filled with… I couldn't be sure exactly. It may have been remorse, guilt, grief, pain, pity, regret, or… compassion? I couldn't tell. I didn't know what to say to him.

I took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and said, "Nice to meet you, Nico."

"Nice to meet you, too, Melanie," Nico replied.

"You can call me Mel," I said quickly. I paused, and there was an awkward silence. I racked my brain, trying to think of something to say to break the silence; it was killing me. "Um, Nico?" I said.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Do you… um, do you want to sit down, maybe?" I asked.

I felt Percy's hand tense on my shoulder. I tried not to let it bother me, but it did. I was almost positive something was wrong, but I decided I would ask him about it later.

"Uh, sure," Nico replied hesitantly.

He walked over and plopped down next to me. When I saw Nico's face up close, he looked very different. He looked exhausted, his eyes bloodshot. I decided to start a conversation with him, but his eyes were so full of jumbled, undecipherable emotions, and he almost looked sad, that I had to ask him about that first.

"Nico, is something wrong? You look kind of upset," I said. Instantly I wished I hadn't said anything at all. Nico looked down at the floor, and his eyes looked even sadder. I shrugged Percy's arm off my shoulder, which he didn't look thrilled about, and I leaned over to give Nico a hug, and that made me feel even more awkward.

"Nico, I'm sorry, you don't have to answer that if you don't want to. You just look so sad," I said.

"No, it's fine," he said quietly. "It's just… my sister. I—" he broke off, choked up by grief. "Bianca…" his whisper, barely audible, trailed off. "Why…"

I looked at Percy desperately. I had no idea what to say to Nico. Percy motioned for me to lean towards him.

He whispered in my ear, "His sister, Bianca, joined the Hunters of Artemis last winter. She went on a quest and she died saving the rest of us, and Nico's still upset about it. He kind of blamed me for her death."

I stared at Percy, shocked, looked at Nico, and then back at Percy.

"What?" That came out louder than I planned, and Nico heard me.

"What's wrong, Mel?" Nico asked me.

That was the first time he said my name. For some reason, when Nico said my name, I felt good, important, worth something. It was really weird. I had a sudden desire to have him say my name again, but I held back from saying anything.

Okay, I should probably explain this whole thing, because it's kind of confusing. When Nico said my name, I felt something strange, like something I've never felt before. It felt weird, but not in a bad way, in a good way. Suddenly, I had a strange, satisfying, tingling sensation wash over me, and I looked at Nico again. I saw a twelve year old boy, with pale skin, black clothing, slightly long, shaggy black hair, a black sword with a wickedly beautiful, polished black blade hanging by his side, and deep, sad, soulful, intense, beautiful black eyes. In an instant, I knew what was happening. I liked Nico. A lot. I shook my head, trying to clear it. This couldn't be happening. I liked Percy—sweet, kind, brave, caring Percy Jackson, the son of Poseidon. I couldn't like Nico—mysterious, quiet, sad, undecipherable Nico di Angelo—not to mention he was the son of Hades, and he could summon spirits of the dead. That was just plain creepy to me.

"Mel?" Nico prompted.

"What?" I said, shocked out of my state of reflective stupor.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"What? Oh, nothing, nothing. I'm fine," I replied.

"'Kay." Nico turned to look at me, and when he caught my eye, I thought I saw a smile start to tug at the corners of his mouth. He reached over to me, brushed my fingertips, and pulled back just as quickly, looking awkward and uncomfortable.

I smiled back at him encouragingly, savoring the moment.

"So Mel, I take you're feeling better?" Annabeth asked me.

I jumped. Annabeth had been so quiet this whole time that I'd forgotten she was in the room.

"Yeah, Annabeth. I'm fine."

"Good." She looked at me, caught my eye, and I could've sworn I saw her make a slight, almost unnoticeable gesture towards Nico.

I gave her a look in response, as if to say, Yeah, okay, whatever. I got this. I did know what I was doing, but first, I had to find a place—away from other people—to talk to Percy.

"Percy," I said, my voice full of tension.

"Is something wrong, Mel?" Percy looked at me, and he looked a bit worried and concerned.

I looked at Percy, and tried to concentrate on something minor, like how comfortable Percy looked like he felt by the water. Oh, we were sitting on the shore of the beach, overlooking the water, by the way. Percy had his arm around my shoulder, but that just made me feel extremely uncomfortable, given what I had to talk to him about. I knew I had to be quick about this because we were breaking curfew and I really didn't want the harpies to catch us. This was the same day that I had met Nico, but this "day" was now night, and I felt like dawn would break any minute. I decided to get right to the point. I took Percy's hand in mine, held it for a moment that seemed like forever, and I swung Percy's arm off my shoulder. Percy looked genuinely astonished, but I it was something I had to do.

"I guess you could say something's wrong, Percy," I began.

"But—"

"Percy, listen. I need to tell you this, and I have to do it now."

"What—"

"Percy, you know I like you, and I know you like me, but… but this isn't going to work. I really don't like saying this—"

"Then don't say it, Mel," Percy interrupted me.

"But I have to, Percy." I gave him a reassuring hug. "Just please, listen to me."

"Okay," Percy agreed.

"I don't think we're meant to be together, Percy. I'm so sorry. I don't like this any more than you do, and I don't hate it any less than you do. I think—I think we were meant to be with other people. I'm sorry, Percy, really. But I think you know exactly what I mean, and I think you might just have a slight idea of who I mean."

"You mean me and Annabeth, don't you?" he asked.

"Yeah, I do. But that's not all I mean. That's just part of it." I turned to look back at the camp, a look of longing on my face.

Apparently Percy noticed me looking back, because he turned to look at me and asked me, "What do you mean? What's the 'other part' you're talking about? What about you?" I looked at Percy, and I saw the realization and understanding starting to creep across Percy's face. "You mean Nico. You… and Nico," Percy said quietly. He looked me straight in the eye and asked me, "Is that what you mean?"

Even in the darkness, I could see his eyes widen and the mixed emotions—shock, sadness, and rejection—start to spread across Percy's face. He looked absolutely crestfallen, and I couldn't stand to see him like that, but I had to tell Percy the truth, so I took a deep breath and said, "Yes, Percy. That's what I mean. I know I keep saying this, and it's probably not helping, but I'm sorry, Percy. I'm so sorry."

"I think we should go back to our cabins now," Percy said, after a long pause.

"Yeah. Don't want to get caught and turn into harpy chow," I agreed.

Percy smiled. At least he was feeling a little better. I was glad to see that Percy was okay, and I smiled too. We were just about to get up to back to our cabins, when we heard something behind us. I fingered my necklace; Percy put his hand in his pocket and brought out his pen. Riptide, I think he called it. Then we heard the voice. "Hi, there. Lovely night, isn't it?" I froze.

CHAPTER 8

Slowly, Percy turned around, and when he saw who was behind us, he relaxed. I decided to turn around to see who it was, and I saw a man. He was middle-aged, with salt-and-pepper hair. He was dressed in a mailman's outfit, with a bag slung over his shoulder and a cell phone in his hand. His shoes had wings that kept flapping.

"Hello, Percy. Nice to see you again. Who's this?" the guy said.

Wait a minute. Percy knew this guy?

"Lord Hermes," Percy replied with a polite nod.

Oh, don't say anything to us, a male voice said, but I heard it in my mind, like the way people heard me when I transformed into animals.

George! A female voice chided.

I looked around, but I didn't see anyone else.

"Hello, George. Hi, Martha," Percy said.

"Hello," I said tentatively, not sure if Percy was kidding or not. We were demigods, so he was probably serious, but I didn't get who George and Martha were, and I didn't see them.

"Mel, this is Hermes, and George and Martha are… well, I think I should allow Hermes to explain," Percy told me, looking at Hermes. "Hermes, this is Melanie, daughter of Athena."

"I think, Melanie, you might fully believe I am Hermes if you see this in a form you've probably seen before," Hermes said to me.

Hermes held up his phone, and it began to glow, and it grew until the god was holding a staff with two intertwined snakes wriggling around on it—a caduceus.

Hello, daughter of Athena, said the male voice again, but now I realized it was one of the snakes. Aren't you going to say hello to us?

George, stop badgering her. She just met us. She's probably surprised, the female voice scolded.

Do you have any rats? asked George.

George! Martha—I guess it was Martha—scolded again.

"I suppose you two are George and Martha?" I asked the snakes.

Who else would we be? George said snidely.

George, don't be so rude, Martha scolded George for about the fifth time.

"Hello, George," I said. "Hi, Martha."

Hello, they both said.

George started squirming around and around on the caduceus.

She's touching me, he complained.

Hermes sighed. "How many times do I have to tell you—you're always touching. You're intertwined," he said to George. "Stop squirming or you'll get yourselves tied in a knot again."

Do you have any rats? George asked. Rats are delicious.

"Sorry, George," Percy told the snake.

Next time, make sure you have a rat for me.

"Sure, George." I could tell Percy was trying not to smile.

"Well, we have to get going," Hermes said to us.

Goodbye, said George and Martha.

Hermes started to glow, and Percy turned around. I remembered something about mortals not being able to look upon gods in their true form, and I figured that's what Hermes was doing, so I also averted my eyes.

After the light died behind us, I asked Percy, "What happens exactly if you look at a god in their true form?"

"You'll disintegrate," Percy replied.

"Oh."

"Let's go now. I'm tired," Percy said, yawning for emphasis.

"Yeah, me too."

We walked back towards the cabins, and when I got inside, I flopped down on my bed. I fell asleep within seconds.

"—and go. I'll wake her," I heard Annabeth say, probably to Malcolm.

"Sure, Annabeth," Malcolm replied.

I heard everyone file out of the cabin and the door closed. Annabeth shook me.

"Wake up!"

"Ahh!" I fell out of my bed. I looked up at Annabeth, annoyed. "Again, really?"

"Sorry," Annabeth apologized, but I don't think it was all that sincere.

"Why did you send the other campers out before you woke me?" I asked.

"I want to talk to you," Annabeth said. She sat down cross-legged on my bed. I got up off the floor and sat next to her.

"About?"

She smiled at me. "Where you were half the night. Were you with Percy?"

I rolled my eyes. She sounded like she meant, 'Were you on a date with Percy?'

"Yeah, I had to talk to him about something. We were on the beach." I paused. "Why do you care, and how did you even know I was gone?"

"Oh, come on, Mel," Annabeth scoffed. "I heard the door slam shut when you walked out."

"Okay first, that was Percy, and second, like I asked before, why do you care?!"

"Was he trying to break down the door or something?"

"No, he was just knocking… at least I think that's all he was doing."

"Okay, Mel." Annabeth rolled her eyes at me.

"Seriously! I told him to knock quietly so he didn't wake anyone up, but does he listen? No! And you still haven't answered my question: Why do you care where I was, Annabeth?"

She hesitated; I guess I'd caught her off guard. "Well… I… um—" Annabeth managed to get that much out, and I could tell she was anxious and didn't want to answer my question in the least.

It was my turn to smile. "Annabeth, you like Percy, don't you?" I asked her.

Her eyes widened, and her cheeks reddened with embarrassment. "What? I—what? No! I don't! What?!" Annabeth stammered through everything she said.

"You so do," I shot back, rolling my eyes and scoffing sarcastically.

Annabeth inhaled deeply, took a minute to regain her composure, and replied, "Okay, you know what, Mel? Let's eat breakfast now, and talk later, 'kay?"

"Yeah, sure, let's go," I agreed.

I walked over to the door, swung it open, and I froze when I saw Nico di Angelo standing outside, poised and ready to knock on the door of Cabin Six.

The shock on Nico's face probably mirrored my expression exactly. But his shock quickly morphed into embarrassment, and he looked down, blushing. Nico wasn't blushing a lot, but I guess because his skin was so pale his face looked bright red.

"Hey," he said quietly.

"Hey," I replied, almost as quietly.

"Nico?!" Annabeth sounded absolutely bewildered.

I looked back at her, and the expression on her face matched her tone of voice exactly. Her eyes were wide, her mouth hanging open, and she was frozen so that she looked like a statue.

"Annabeth," I said. "Annabeth," I said a little louder. "Annabeth!"

"What? Oh, yeah, sorry."

"I think we should get to breakfast now, Annabeth," I said quietly.

"Yeah. Yeah, you're right, Mel. Bye, Nico," Annabeth said.

"Bye, Annabeth. Bye, Mel," Nico said.

He looked at me and gave me a small smile, as if we were sharing a little secret Annabeth didn't know about, so I smiled back.

"Bye, Nico. See you later," I replied.

Annabeth grabbed my wrist and pulled me out the door, closing it behind us, leaving Nico standing there and staring at the cabin door as we walked (or in my case, was dragged) to breakfast.

When we were in the middle of breakfast, while the other Athena campers were talking and laughing, I looked over at the Hermes table, where I was told Nico was, but he wasn't there. I felt a twinge of sympathy. I guess Nico felt like he didn't fit in, even among other demigods. Then I looked over at the Poseidon table, where Percy and Tyson would be sitting, but Percy wasn't there. Tyson was sitting at the table alone, and he looked kind of upset.

"Annabeth," I whispered, turning to look at her. "Annabeth!" I hissed, slightly louder this time.

"What?!" she snapped.

"Where's Percy?"

"What are you talking about, Mel?" Annabeth turned to look over at where Tyson was sitting. "He's at his table with…" she faltered, "Tyson…" Annabeth hesitated for a moment. "Wait, what? That's not like him to miss breakfast."

"Annabeth?" I said.

"Yeah?"

"That's why I asked where he was!"

Annabeth sighed. "So much for being able to talk after breakfast, Mel. Let's go see if we can wake him up."

I groaned very loudly. "Aaauughh, fine."

So instead of finishing our breakfast in peace, and then being able to talk afterward, Annabeth and I were running down to Cabin Three to see what Percy was doing. As we were running, I heard Annabeth mutter under her breath, something along the lines of, "why does he always have to be so difficult all the time, it's as if he does it on purpose, he's so annoying, does he try to make me mad."

"Annabeth?" I asked.

"What?"

"You okay?"

"Yeah, fine." She paused. "Why?"

"No reason."

I wasn't really paying much attention to where I was running, so when Annabeth stopped short, I almost bumped into her, but when I did manage to stop, I crashed right into Nico, who was just about ready to knock on Percy's cabin door.

"Nico?" I said, shocked. "What are you doing here? Why aren't you eating breakfast with everyone else?"

"Why aren't you?" he countered.

"Percy wasn't at breakfast, so we wanted to see what was up. Now can you answer my question?"

"Same as you, I guess. I thought he might be sick or something," Nico replied.

"Well I hope not," Annabeth chimed in. A sudden thought must have struck her, because her face lit up, but to me, it looked like a look of horror mixed with shock; she turned to Nico and asked him, "Wait, Nico, did you stop and talk to Tyson to see if he knows what's wrong?"

"Yeah."

"Well, what did he say?" I demanded.

"He said, 'pretty girl made Percy sad,'" Nico answered.

I gasped quietly. "What? Percy's upset, because… of me?" I whispered, almost too quiet to hear myself.

"Mel?" Annabeth said quietly, putting her hand on my shoulder. "Mel," she said again, a bit louder but in a gentle tone. "How could you have possibly had anything to do with Percy being upset?"

Nico came up behind me and put his hand on my other shoulder. "Yeah, Mel. What could you have done?"

Annabeth's eyes widened with realization. "Mel?" she started, saying my name very slowly, letting it linger in the air. She turned to face me and took her hand off my shoulder.

"What?" I asked defensively.

"Is that why you were out talking to Percy last night?"

"Yes, it was. And so the recurring question comes up yet again: why do you care, Annabeth?"

Annabeth opened her mouth to reply, but nothing came out.

"Just forget it, we'll talk later."

"Thank you." Annabeth sounded relieved to be able to drop the subject.

I walked over to the door and knocked. "Percy? It's Melanie. Can you please open the door? Percy, please?"

I heard a groan from inside that sounded like, "Go away."

I sighed, defeated, and turned to face Annabeth and Nico. "He doesn't want to talk to me," I said. "I can't believe he doesn't want to talk to me."

"Let me handle this." Annabeth sounded annoyed. She knocked on Percy's door. "Percy! Open up! I mean it, Seaweed Brain! Let me in! Open the door, Percy! Percy!"

"No," Percy moaned from inside the cabin.

Annabeth whirled around, furious now. "Percy has got a serious problem. First, he blames Mel for him being upset, and then he decides to be rude to her? No. I don't think so. Not when I have anything to do with it."

"Yeah, same," Nico agreed.

"Thanks guys," I said.

Nico marched up to the door and pounded on the door. "Percy! Let me in before I let myself in! Percy!"

"No!" Percy moaned again.

"That's it," Nico growled. "I'm going inside, whether he likes it or not."

Nico slammed his elbow into the door, and it swung wide open. I saw Percy lying in bed with his face buried in his pillow.

I was about to say hi or something, until Nico stormed over to stand next to Percy's bed. "You got a lot of nerve, Percy. A lot of nerve."

"Go away," Percy groaned once again.

I stepped forward and lightly shoved Nico out of the way. "Nico, move." Then I bent down and faced Percy. "Percy, please. Look at me. I want to talk to you."

"Well, I don't want to talk to you, Mel."

"Well, that's a start. He said your name," Annabeth interrupted.

"It's not much, though," I replied. I turned back to Percy. "Percy," I said. "Please. Turn around and look at me. I want to talk to you. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you upset, I was just telling you the truth. I thought you knew that. Percy, please, I'm really, seriously sorry. Please, just talk to me, Percy. Please." I was on the verge of tears then.

Annabeth stomped across the floor to stand next to me. She punched Percy in the stomach, and he yelled in pain.

"Turn around and apologize, Seaweed Brain. Now," Annabeth said; the word 'now' came out as a quiet hiss.

"Unngh," Percy said, and he rolled over to face me.

"Percy, look. I'm sorry," I said in a quiet, soothing voice. "Really, I didn't mean to hurt you. But you know what I said is true, Percy." I paused to let my words sink in. "Don't you?" I reached out tentatively and put my hand on his shoulder.

Percy grunted before replying. "I guess, but—" He didn't finish his sentence.

"But what?"

"But—well, I didn't want it to be true."

"I know. And I'm sorry," I said quietly. "But it's not meant to be." I whispered that last part, because I didn't want Annabeth or Nico to hear. "Do you think you're okay now, Percy?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay now."

"Good." I smiled at Percy, then leaned over and hugged him. Then a thought struck me. I figured I owed it to Percy, so I leaned over again and gave him a little kiss on the cheek.

This time Percy smiled back at me. "Thanks, Mel."

Percy sat up, and I stood back up.

"Well, since breakfast is probably over by now, maybe we should get to the arena," I said, holding up my necklace for emphasis.

"Yeah, Malcolm probably already took the others down," Annabeth added.

"Then, let's go!" Percy exclaimed.

"Where were you guys? And what took so long?" Malcolm called as Percy, Nico, Annabeth, and I were jogging towards the sword arena.

"Long story, I'll tell you later," Annabeth called back.

"Hey, Malcolm," Percy said, raising a hand in greeting.

"'Sup," Nico said.

The others were almost to the arena, but I was breathing hard and starting to fall behind. Did I ever mention that I'm not a great athlete? Well, it's mostly when it comes to endurance and stamina that I'm not very good. Nico looked back and saw me falling behind, so he jogged back towards me and grabbed my hand.

"Come on, Mel. I need to see how good you are with a sword," Nico said with a smile.

"Well, on my first day, I beat Percy. Does that tell you how good I am?"

"I want to practice with you."

"Nico, I've been fencing since I was three years old. You've got no chance."

"We'll see about that. You've never seen a sword like mine before."

I scoffed and rolled my eyes. "You can't scare me, Nico. I faced ten dracaenae in a room full of screaming mortals. With a snake around my ankles. I was on the floor, and this was the same day I found out I was a demigod. But this was earlier in the day. I will take you down, little boy."

"Point taken, Mel. Let's go." Nico smiled a very wide smile, and we jogged the rest of the way down to the sword arena.

CHAPTER 9

"HWAH!" Clang! THWACK! "HIYA!" Thump!

"Okay, ow, but great job, Mel," Nico congratulated.

"I warned you," I said in a very sing-songy voice.

"But did you have to knock me over?"

I posed for a moment, as if I was pondering that question, then I replied. "Hmm, let's see, um, YES. I did." I smiled down at Nico; it was a very big, very oh-so-obviously-fake innocent smile, complete with the big, girly, super-sweet-and-innocent eyes.

Nico stared blankly at me as I waited for his annoyed feeling to melt, and his ability to hold my gaze to crumble. "Problem, Nico?" I asked in an innocently sweet, sarcastic voice. I added a few big-eyed blinks for good measure.

Nico blinked at me, but otherwise he didn't move.

"Pfft. Dude, I'm kidding." I laughed gently and light-heartedly. I bent down slightly and held out my hand. "Come on, get up. Let's go again." I smiled.

Nico took my hand, and it felt like time stopped. I didn't want the moment to end, and I wondered if Nico felt the same way that I did. I felt like I was staring at Nico, but I really didn't care.

"Mel," Nico said, still on the ground.

I snapped out of my trance, shaking my head to clear it. "Wait, sorry, what?"

"Can you help me up now?"

"Yeah, yeah, sorry," I apologized.

I yanked Nico's arm, pulling him into a standing position, with his face literally about two inches away from mine. I leaned my head forward, rested my forehead on Nico's, and smiled a huge smile.

I felt a hand on my shoulder, and Annabeth said, "Mel!"

I jumped. "Ahh! Oh my gods! Annabeth, don't do that!" I exclaimed.

"Nico, I need to borrow Mel for a second. We'll be right back."

Annabeth grabbed my arm and yanked me across the grass until we were out of earshot of Nico, Percy, and everyone else in the sword arena. When we were far enough away, Annabeth stopped, turned to face me, and smiled hugely, as if she knew something I didn't. With my luck, that was the case.

"Annabeth?" I started.

"What?" she said, still smiling.

"What in the world could you possibly want from me this time, Annabeth?"

"That little… how should I put this… scene between you and Nico leads me to one conclusion. I just want to see if I'm right."

"Well?" I prompted her. "What's your… conclusion?"

Annabeth just kept standing and smiling. I then realized exactly what she was going to say, and my eyes widened in horror.

"Don't say it," I said, my voice barely audible.

"You," Annabeth started.

"No."

"Like," she continued.

"Annabeth," I pleaded.

Her smile widened. "Nico!" Annabeth finished gleefully.

"Shut up!" I shouted.

"So it's true? You do like Nico?"

I quickly brought my voice down to a whispered hiss. "Annabeth, seriously, just stop. Drop it. Please."

"Sorry, Mel, I can't just drop it."

"Oh, yeah, and why not?"

Annabeth's voice dropped in volume as she said, "I think he likes you, Mel."

"What makes you think that?"

"He's Nico. And when you guys are together, he seems happier. Ever since his sister Bianca died, he's wandered around the country, and he always seemed really depressed. Until he met you, Melanie. You make him happier just by being near him. I don't know if anyone's ever told you that you light up a room, but you do. Apparently, you can light up a heart and soul, too."

"Aw. Thanks, girlie." I smiled a bit.

"It's true, though," Annabeth replied. "Can I tell him?"

"What, no!"

"Come on! He needs to know. It would be better for him and everyone else if he was happy."

"What about what I want?!"

"I think we both know want to date him, Mel. Why not just tell him? You seemed fine when it was Percy."

"That's different!"

"How?!"

"Because. It just is, Annabeth!"

"Why, just because he's an Underworld child?"

"Don't go there!"

"So that's your lame excuse?!"

That just got me so mad, that she thought it was because of Nico's dad that I didn't want to tell him. I felt a roar in my head, and I lunged at Annabeth. But I wasn't me. I was a huge, male African lion. My left forepaw smashed into Annabeth's shoulder, and I knocked her down, and she landed spread-eagle on her back. I landed firmly over her, front paws planted on either side of Annabeth's head, hind paws below her arms, claws extended. I snarled, finishing off my display of rage by letting loose a huge roar. Annabeth screamed.

CHAPTER 10

"Annabeth! Mel!" Percy screamed.

Percy and Nico were running towards us, followed by the Athena campers. Everyone at camp, with the exception of Nico, knew about my bizarre shape-shifting ability, so Nico was probably the only one that didn't know I was the lion.

"Oh my gods!" Nico shouted.

"Annabeth!" Percy screamed.

As soon as I heard them, I was able to exert a very limited amount of control over the lion, but it wasn't soon enough. Nico drew his sword and charged me. I leaped off of Annabeth, and the lion instincts kicked in, so I growled.

No! I yelled. Nico, it's me! Melanie! Stop!

I wasn't able to stop the lion's urge to attack, but I was able to keep myself from tearing Nico to pieces. I dug my claws into the ground, scratching at the grass, making sure that I didn't lose control of the lion and sink my claws into my friends.

"Mel?!" Nico sounded bewildered beyond belief, and he came to a screeching halt. "How?" He turned to Percy. "That's a lion. A lion!"

"Yeah, well, apparently, Mel can shape-shift. We only found this out recently ourselves, when she almost killed me as a tiger," Percy explained.

Not the time or place, Percy. Aghhh! Can't—control. I took a deep breath. Lion. Need. HELP! AGHHH! It hurts!

I was digging my claws into the ground as deep as I possibly could, trying to keep myself from pouncing on someone.

HELP ME! I screamed again.

"Did you try changing back, Mel?" Percy asked me.

Percy, I can barely control the lion instincts, and I didn't even change on purpose. DON'T YOU THINK I ALREADY CONSIDERED THAT OPTION?!

"Well, sorry, Mel," Percy replied.

No, Percy, it's my—AGHH!—fault. I'm sorry I—ow!—snapped at you. I'm just—I grunted—frustrated. Extremely. Agh! Frustrated.

"Mel!" Annabeth called from on the ground. She stood up and brushed the dirt off her clothes.

What? AGHHH! I asked her, screaming in pain.

"Do you think maybe, just maybe, if the boys hold you down, you can exert enough control over the lion brain to change back?" If I was looking at Annabeth when she said this, I probably would have been able to see the gears turning in her head while she thought over her plan.

I don't know. AGHH! Maybe. I paused. Percy? Nico? AHHH!

"Already on it, Mel," Percy said. "Nico?"

"Coming," Nico replied.

They both stood on either side of me, and they leaped at me. I roared. Percy hit me first; he knocked into me and managed to pin both of my left legs onto the ground. A split second later, Nico tackled my right legs. I roared, then I got the lion under control. I concentrated on changing back before I threw the boys off me. Human, I told myself, become human again. I felt my toes lengthen and get thinner. My head got smaller, my legs became human arms and legs, and I felt Percy and Nico begin to grip me tighter.

Percy, Nico, le— "let go of me," I said, just as my mouth became human again.

They let me go, but stood on either side of me, in case I went berserk again as another animal or something like that. I became fully human again. I tried standing up, but I was so drained, I almost passed out. My knees buckled, and Nico caught me.

"Th…" I started, but I couldn't finish; I fell asleep in Nico's arms just as I saw him lean down to kiss my forehead.

"Melanie! Chiron! Annabeth! Percy! Somebody, I need help!" I heard a voice call, very faint, from the top of Half-Blood Hill.

I knew that voice. I've heard that voice before.

"Jeffrey!" I screamed. I bolted upright, out of Nico's arms. "Guys, come on! He's got a new demigod! We have to help them!"

"AHHH!" I assumed that was the demigod, screaming right on cue.

"Let's go!" Annabeth exclaimed.

Percy, Annabeth, Nico, and I ran across the arena and up Half-Blood Hill.

"Jeffrey!" Annabeth called.

"Annabeth!" Jeffrey yelled, happy and afraid at the same time.

"Jeffrey! What are we dealing with?" I called from the back of the group.

"Melanie! There's a dozen dracaenae on her! They're too overwhelming! There's too many!"

I cursed. "You have got to be kidding me!"

"Jeffrey! Help me! What are these things? AHHH!" the other demigod screamed.

"Mel!" Annabeth called to me. "GO!"

"I'm already on it!"

I started sprinting the rest of the way up the hill. As I got near the top of the hill, I leaped and concentrated.

SCREECH! I became the biggest thing I could think of that would allow me to take to the air: a huge bald eagle.

"Oh my God!" the girl screamed. I guess she looked up and saw me.

Don't worry! I called to her. I'm here to help you! I'm trying to hurt the dracaenae! Not you!

"This is insane!" she yelled.

You get used to it! Now watch out!

She ran away from the dracaenae, but she almost got run through by Percy's sword, just as he swung at a dracaenae.

"AHHH!"

"Watch out!" he warned.

"No, really?!" she snapped.

SCREECH! I tucked my wings, extended my talons, and dove towards the snake women. SCREECH! My razor-sharp talons hit home: I scratched at one of the monsters' eyes, leaving her blinded and bloody. She shrieked.

"Kill the demigod! Ssseize them! Ahhh!" The dracaena I attacked started to scream at the others. "Move, you foolssss!"

I soared upward. As I watched my friends fighting and killing the dracaenae, I began to formulate a plan. I was going to gain some altitude, dive at the demonic snake women, and become human again in midair. I would then open my sword, land on a dracaena (or two) and kill them. Then I would rejoin the fight on land.

SCREECH! Guys, watch for me! I called as I flew upward in preparation for my dive. I'm going to dive down again! I have a plan! You'll see what I'll do in a minute!

I knew that, even with my super-sharp eagle senses, I wouldn't be able to hear my friends if they responded, but I could still see them just fine. I felt like I was finally high enough in the air to dive. I planned to strike down a dracaena with my sword outstretched as soon as I was close enough to strike. After I ran one through, I would land on top of another to break my fall and join the others on the ground.

SCREECH! I aimed my body beak first, tucked my wings, and shot down at the monsters like a missile. SCREECH!

"AHHH!" I was close enough now to hear the other demigod scream—again. I concentrated. Human, I told myself. Guys, move!

"Scatter!" Annabeth instructed.

Before the dracaenae could figure out what was happening, my friends jumped in all different directions. I was fully human now; rocketing towards a dozen scaly monsters at about sixty miles per hour, with my sword in hand, arm fully outstretched. I saw the perfect landing: one dracaena directly in line with my sword point, a second right below me to break my fall. I hit my mark exactly. The first demon shrieked and exploded as my sword made contact with her skin, and I dropped down onto the other a split second later. She flattened against the ground from the impact; I got to my knees and drove my sword into her. As her ear-piercing shriek was ripped from her dying mouth, she exploded beneath me. I stood back up, fighting to save an innocent demigod's life, since she wasn't able to fight at the moment.

"AHHH!" she screamed for the fifth time.

The rest of us danced around, slaying the remaining dracaenae, and generally trying to keep the demons away from the other demigod. Within two minutes or so, we destroyed the dracaenae, and Jeffrey fainted from the fight.

"Jeffrey!" I called, alarmed, but relieved that it wasn't me this time. "Percy, Nico, carry him down the hill. Annabeth and I will help the demigod."

I wanted to help the girl because she was glued to the ground, frozen in shock at the battle she just witnessed. Percy capped Riptide, Nico and Annabeth sheathed their weapons, and I flipped my sword back to a necklace and put it around my neck.

"Come on, Nico, we have a satyr to revive," Percy said.

"Coming," Nico replied, sounding less than thrilled.

The boys grabbed Jeffrey and dragged him down to camp, trying to wake him, while Annabeth and I walked over to the demigod.

"You—swords—Jeffrey—goat… monsters…" the girl stammered, gesturing all around the area. "You!" she pointed to me, her eyes wide, looking panicked and afraid. "You were an eagle!"

I started talking to the girl as Annabeth and stood on either side of her to support her in case she fell. "Yes, I was. We'll explain everything to you, I promise. Now, can you tell us your name?"

She took a deep breath. "Diana," she stated. "Diana Marie."

Okay, I should tell you about Diana. She had long, light brown hair. And I mean long. Her hair flowed all the way down her back, and it was almost halfway down to her knees. It was long, but it was really pretty. I thought Diana would look really pretty with her hair braided down her back. She had caramel brown eyes, almost the same color as my dad's eyes, but Diana's were a lighter shade of brown. I guess she was kind of tall, because she was almost a head taller than Annabeth and me. When I looked her in the eye, I knew I would have to look up slightly.

We started down the hill, and I decided to start by introducing myself and my friends and telling her what she had to find out eventually. "Okay, Diana. I'm Melanie Minnotte, but you can call me Mel. This is Annabeth Chase."

"Hi, Diana," Annabeth chimed in.

"The two boys with us were Percy Jackson and Nico di Angelo. Nico was the one with the black jacket, and Percy was the one with the orange T-shirt, like ours," I continued. "Jeffrey you know, and he is a satyr. The monsters we fought are dracaenae, and I fought some of them on my way to camp with Jeffrey too. I hate them, so much."

"But what about the eagle thing?" Diana asked.

"I can shape-shift. We all just found out sort of recently. And aside from you now, I'm the newest camper. I haven't even been here a week yet."

"But why am I here? Why did those things attack me?"

"We're demigods, Diana. And so are you."

"So our parents are like, gods? Greek gods?"

"One of them is a god. The other is mortal. Annabeth and I are daughters of Athena. Percy's dad is Poseidon, and Nico's dad is Hades. By the way, Diana, do you live with your mom or dad?"

"Mom. So, you're saying Dad is a god?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying."

"Which god?"

"We don't know yet. He hasn't claimed you."

"Claimed me?"

"As his daughter."

"Oh. I get it. Sort of."

"For now, until your dad claims you, you'll be staying in the Hermes cabin. After we get you to the Big House, I'll find the Stoll brothers and introduce them to you. They'll be your senior counselors until your dad claims you," Annabeth explained to Diana, who looked hopelessly confused.

"Don't worry, Diana. We've all gone through this. You're not alone," I added.

"Oh. Well, okay." Diana said.

I glanced at Diana, who looked doubtful, so I told her, "Don't worry, Diana. Your dad will claim you. I promise."

We got to the Big House, and Annabeth turned to me. "Do you think you can take her in on your own? I'm going to go find Travis and Connor."

"Of course," I replied.

Annabeth ran off to look for the Stolls, and I helped Diana into the infirmary. I had her sit on the couch, but she collapsed before she could even sit down, so I had helped her lie down instead, and she fell asleep in an instant. I was aware that Percy and Nico were standing behind me. When I turned to greet them, I was surprised to see Jeffrey standing without support and looking better already.

"Where's Annabeth?" Percy asked.

"She went to get the Stoll brothers so they could meet their new camper."

"Ah, I see."

"So," I began, thinking over what Diana had told me in our conversation earlier. I turned to the boys. "What do you think?"

"What do you mean?" Nico asked.

"Godly parent. She said she lives with her mother, so her dad is the god."

I walked over to stand between Percy and Nico, and I faced the couch where Diana was sleeping. I began to think, and the boys stared at me. I felt like they could see the gears turning in my head.

Jeffrey walked over to the door. "I'll go get Chiron," he told us.

"Sure, Jeffrey. Thanks," I replied, not even looking at Jeffrey; I was busy scrutinizing our new demigod.

Jeffrey walked out the door to find Chiron.

I looked at the boys, first at Percy, then at Nico, then turned back to look at Diana. "So," I repeated. "Her dad?"

Percy started, "Well, she can't possibly be a child of the Big Three." He paused, thinking it over. "Can she?"

"I don't think so," I said. "Definitely not Ares. Too small, and she doesn't look tough enough or athletic enough."

"True, but it's possible," Nico pointed out.

"Yeah, possible, but not very likely. Probably not Hephaestus either, for the same reasons. She doesn't look like a mechanic, or much of a fighter. Well, for now."

"Well, what other possibilities are there?" Percy questioned.

I thought over it carefully before replying. "Apollo, which is one of the more likely options. Hermes, also very likely. Dionysus, not too sure, but more probable than Ares or Hephaestus. Her dad could very well be a minor god, too, you know. That's also a very likely possibility."

"Yeah. We'll just have to wait and see, though," Nico said.

Suddenly I gasped and my eyes lit up. "I have an idea!"

"What is it?" Nico asked.

"As soon as she wakes up, I'll take her down to the archery range so she can try. I won't show or tell her anything. I'll see how she does with that, and if she can string an arrow without help, and she makes a decent shot, then I'll think she's a daughter of Apollo. If she doesn't do well, then I don't know. But I will see what he can do with a bow and arrow."

"What if she already practices archery? Then it won't help," Percy said to me.

"I already thought of that. It's called I ask her." I jabbed my elbow into Percy's ribs. "Duh. I swear, you are such an idiot sometimes, Seaweed Brain."

"Can you not call me that?"

"Does it bother you?"

"Yeah, it kind of does."

"Well, then I'm doing my job."

"Annoying me?"

"Yeah, pretty much." I looked at Percy, arms crossed. I smiled smugly.

"Whatever, Mel."

It was at that moment that Diana woke up.

"What happened? All I remember is walking down a hill and falling asleep here," Diana said. She bolted upright. "Where's Jeffrey?" she asked in a panic.

Percy walked over to sit down next to Diana. "He's fine. He went to go and find Chiron."

"Who's Chiron?"

I walked over and sat down on the other side of Diana. I motioned for Nico to come sit down next to me. He did, and he put his arm around my shoulders, but I could tell he felt kind of awkward about it. I gave him some encouragement by giving him a hug.

"You'll see when you meet him, Diana. Trust me, I think you'd rather see for yourself than have us explain," I told Diana.

"And what about that other girl, Annabeth?" Diana asked a lot of questions.

"She went to find the Stoll brothers, Travis and Connor," I explained.

"Oh, okay."

"Hi, guys!" Jeffrey called cheerily as he entered the room.

We all began to greet Jeffrey, just as Chiron rolled into the room.

I jumped up into a standing position, and said, "Hi, Chiron."

"Hello Melanie. Hello Percy," Chiron greeted us. He hesitated for a moment before turning to Nico. "Mr. di Angelo."

"Chiron," Nico replied, his voice tight.

Chiron then turned to address Diana. "Ah, this must be our new demigod. Jeffrey told me he escorted you to camp. Diana is it?"

"Yes. You're Chiron?" Diana questioned, seemingly surprised at what she saw.

I had first seen Chiron as a centaur, so seeing him in his magic wheelchair wasn't much of a strange sight.

"Yes, child, I am Chiron, trainer of heroes, and activities director here at Camp Half-Blood." Chiron paused. "I suppose you may not have thought you would see me like this. Pardon me."

Chiron started to rise out of his wheelchair, his horse half becoming more and more visible as he rose, until the wheelchair was nothing more than a motorized box with fake human legs attached.

"You're a centaur," Diana said, surprisingly calm considering she just saw a centaur come out of a magic box.

"Yes, I am indeed a centaur."

"Wait a minute," Diana said. "Are you the Chiron, like the one from all the stories, like Hercules and Achilles and all that? Did you train them?"

"Yes, child. I am that Chiron." Chiron took a deep breath before asking, "Tell me child, has your mother or father claimed you yet?"

"No. My—my mother always told me…" Diana faltered for a moment. She took a deep breath and finished quietly, "She always told me he was dead."

"Who did she say was dead, Diana?" Chiron asked her.

"My father. Melanie and Annabeth—they told me my father is a god." Diana replied in answer to Chiron's question.

Suddenly, a bright flash of light overcame Diana. Percy and Nico jumped up off the couch, and we all shielded our eyes, blinded by the sudden burst of light. When the light died behind me, I cautiously turned around, and gestured to the others that it was safe to look.

When I looked at Diana, I couldn't believe what I saw. Her hair was shimmering, and it looked almost golden, as if it was sprayed painted with sunlight. Diana's skin was smooth and glowing, and she now had a beautiful golden bow slung over her shoulder, and a full quiver of golden arrows strapped to her back. Her wrists were adorned with golden bracelets and bangles, shining like they were reflecting the light of the sun.

"What happened? What is all this?" Diana asked, utterly and completely stunned as she looked down at herself.

"Your father," Percy began.

"Has claimed you," I finished.

"So, who's my father?" Diana asked.

I cocked my head to one side. "Take a guess, Diana. I think you know."

"Apollo. My dad is Apollo."

"Yes, Diana, your father is Apollo. You've been claimed," I said to her.

Just then Annabeth jogged in. "Hey, guys I got the…" she started to falter as Diana came into her line of vision. "Stoll brothers…" she managed to finish her sentence as she, Travis, and Connor walked completely through the door. "Diana?"

The Stoll brothers stopped short and stared, their mouths hanging open.

"As you can see," I started, breaking the awkward silence the boys created. "Diana has been claimed by Apollo."

"Woah," Travis said.

"Woah," Connor agreed.

I crossed the room to stand in front of the Stoll brothers. I clapped my hands two or three inches in front of their faces.

"Snap out of it!" I yelled.

They shook their heads, and apologized. "Sorry, Melanie."

"Sure, whatever. Bye!" I replied.

"Okay, bye, I guess, considering we don't have a new cabin mate to prank—I mean welcome," Connor said.

Then the Stoll brothers walked out the door. Chiron and Jeffrey followed. Now, only Annabeth, Diana, Percy, Nico, and I remained in the room. I reclaimed my seat between Diana and Nico, and Annabeth shoved Percy over so she could sit next to him. I half expected her to push him the other way and sit between Percy and Diana.

Nico put his arm around me once again. I leaned forward, trying to motion to Percy to do the same to Annabeth. I was almost sure they liked each other, though neither one of them would admit it. Percy's eyes widened and he shook his head vigorously. I rolled my eyes at him and leaned back, resting my head on Nico's shoulder, giving him a huge hug.

"So," I said, trying to break the silence. I stood up and suggested, "Why don't we take you on a camp tour, Diana?" I turned to Nico and grabbed his hand, yanking him up off the couch. "Come on, Nico."

Nico looked flustered. "What?" he stammered.

I gave him a look, as if to say shut up. "Let's go take Diana on a tour of the camp and introduce her to the other campers from the Apollo cabin. Okay?" I smiled a huge, super-sweet smile, trying to melt Nico's inner strength and bend him to my will. Sure, it was a bit mean, but I really wanted him to come with me.

Nico squinted his eyes, looked down at the floor, and I knew I'd broken him.

"Fine, I'll go," he grumbled.

"Yay!" I exclaimed. I jumped up and hugging Nico. I was so excited, I can hardly believe what I did next; I kissed Nico on the cheek, squeezing him even tighter. "Come on, Diana."

Diana got up to follow me. Nico was walking right beside me. Okay, well, he was half walking, half being dragged by me, but yeah, minor details. So Nico and I walked around the camp, showing Diana all of the unique things on the grounds of Camp Half-Blood.

CHAPTER 11

"This place is amazing!" Diana exclaimed as Nico and I took her around the camp.

"Yeah, I'm still saying that myself," I told her.

"Exactly how long have you been here, Mel?" Diana asked me.

I calculated in my head. "This is my third day here."

"What happened? I mean, how did you end up here?"

I looked down at the ground. "I—I'll tell you another time," I said quietly. "Maybe later."

Nico sensed my sadness as soon as I looked toward the ground, and he put his arm around me, giving me a big hug. After releasing his grip, he kept his arm slung over my shoulders.

I leaned toward Nico's ear and whispered, "Thank you."

"Oh my gods, what is that?" I assumed Diana saw lava running down the side of the climbing wall.

I looked up, and I was right. "Climbing wall."

"But there's lava running down the side. Lava."

"Yeah. Bit of an extra challenge. I've yet to try it," I explained.

"Can we try now?" Diana pleaded. Well, it sounded like pleading to me.

I glanced at Nico, and he smiled winningly.

I turned back to Diana. "That's a yes. Let's go."

I looked up at the climbing wall. I took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly.

"Alright, let's do this," I said.

Diana stepped up to the wall first, and she leaped up. As soon as she grabbed her first handhold, I jumped up behind her. As Diana tried scrambling up the wall as fast as possible to avoid getting scorched, I scampered up the wall like a mountain goat. I managed to start climbing down, and I passed Diana on my way down. She was clambering up the wall, and I leaped off, landing next to Nico. I had a feeling that the lava was coming down soon, so I hoped Diana could finish before she got burned—literally.

"Why don't you go, Nico?" I asked.

"I really don't want to," he replied, giving me another hug.

He kept his arm around my shoulders again. I leaned my head on Nico's shoulder, feeling happy and accomplished at the same time. I couldn't stop smiling.

"Come on, Diana! You can do it!" I shouted encouragement up the wall to help and motivate Diana to climb fast and beat the lava.

"AHHH!"

"And there's the lava," I said. "Come on, Diana!"

"I'm trying!" Diana kept pulling herself up the wall. "I think I'm almost—there!"

"Good job, Diana!" Nico called up.

"How am I supposed to get down? I'm not climbing down this thing!" Diana yelled down.

I understood why she didn't want to climb down; her clothes were singed, and there were smoking holes on her shirt.

I sighed. "I got it," I told Nico. To Diana, I called, "I'll come get you!"

"How?"

"How do you think? I'm going to fly!"

"Mel, are you sure you can do this?" Nico asked me, doubtfulness in his voice.

"Nico, I dive-bombed two dracaenae at once, as an eagle, and I killed them both in under a minute. And I changed out of eagle form I midair. Yes, I can do this."

I sprang upward, growing wings and becoming a huge golden eagle. SCREECH! Diana, I'm coming!

"Awesome! I think!" she replied.

Trust me, you'll be fine!

"Okay!"

I shot upward, beak jutting straight up.

"Don't spear me!" Diana called. I guess she saw my beak flying upward.

I won't! I know what I'm doing!

"Are you su—AHHH!"

I used my talons to grab the back of Diana's charred shirt collar.

We really need to get you to your cabin and get you new clothes, I said as I flew her down from the wall.

"Well, it's not like I would've suggested I stay in my burnt clothes," Diana replied sarcastically.

Don't push it. I can drop you, you know. Please don't make me, I retorted.

"Sorry," Diana apologized, though it didn't sound all that sincere.

After Diana's feet were hovering about a foot off the ground, I released my grip on her shirt.

"Ow! Hey!" she complained.

"Sorry," I said, not very sincerely, after changing back.

"So, my clothes?" Diana prompted.

"Right, let's go," Nico said.

"Hey, Will." I greeted the second-in-command of the Apollo cabin, Will Solace, as he was exiting Cabin Seven, probably on his way to the archery range.

"'Sup, Mel, Nico," Will replied.

"Hi," Diana said.

"This our new camper?" Will asked.

"Yeah. I'm Diana."

Will scanned over Diana. "Will. Okay, you need to change. The Stoll brothers came by and said Apollo claimed you, so we laid out some clothes for you. They're on your bed. Awesome bow, by the way. Gift from Dad?"

"Thanks for the clothes, and yeah, gift from Dad. It appeared when I was claimed earlier," Diana explained.

"Figures. Well, after you change, come down to the archery range. You're one of us now, so you need to be able to use that bow whenever it's needed," Will told her.

"Okay, cool. Thanks, Will," Diana said. "I'll go change. I'll be back in a sec."

Diana ran inside, and I turned to Will.

"Nico and I are going to go. I think you can take it from here, Will."

"Sure. Bye, guys," Will said as Nico and I walked off in the direction opposite the cabins.

"Mel, where are we going exactly?" Nico asked me.

Nico had his arm around me again, and I couldn't be happier. I had my head resting on his shoulder.

"The beach," I said simply, as if that would clear everything up.

"But why?"

"I want to talk to you."

"About?"

I took a deep breath. "Us."

Nico and I were sitting on the beach, facing the water. Nico leaned on his hand, his arm behind my back. Since his hand was right beside me, I moved my hand to hold Nico's. I leaned my head on his shoulder.

"Nico," I began. "I feel like I don't know what's going on between the two of us. I mean, do you like me, do you not, or what? I don't know what to think."

"Mel, of course I like you," Nico said, sounding astonished, like he couldn't believe I could say something like that. "I'm not sure if you'd noticed this or not, Mel, but I've been a lot happier since I met you. You're like a gift from the gods, sent to cheer me up and make me as happy as I was since—since Bianca."

I leaned toward Nico's face impulsively, about to kiss him, when a flash of blinding light, like the light that flooded Diana when she was claimed, touched down next to me. Nico and I shielded our eyes, and when the light died, I was shocked at what—or more accurately who—I saw lounging on the beach beside me.