I|=NYE=|I

Begins His Journey

BOOM. BOOM. . . . . . BOOM!

I was just about to fall to sleep when I heard the blast of what sounded like a bomb. Then the rattling of the glass window that was next to my bed. A few more muffled blasts and then sirens started going off everywhere. Lyria rushed into my room and started gathering things.

"C'mon Nye! Get out of bed! We need to go now! Hurry!"

I jumped out of bed and opened one of my drawers to get some proper clothes, but Lyria grabbed my arm and said, "We don't have time for that, come on!" She rushed me out of my bedroom, through the hallway, past the kitchen and then out the door. When we got out the door mom and dad and Durrand were all waiting outside for us. We ran out to the underground shelter which was about two thirds of a mile away.

We had been running for about ten minutes when the bombs (from what Lyria told me as best she could) started exploding closer and closer to us. I was looking back at the house and wondering what this was all about, and if we might ever see it again, and my question was answered as soon as I thought it when I heard a shrieking whistle from up in the air and then an enormous explosion right on the house obliterated it.

We heard shouts behind us. Something in another language from what it sounded like. Apparently Lyria and Durrand knew what it was because they looked at each other all wide-eyed and Durrand mouthed something to her and she nodded. Was she crying? I had no idea.

Oh, by the way, I'm a month away from turning thirteen, and Lyria just turned seventeen.

When we got in the car, I noticed three things. One: It was just Lyria and me in the car. Where the others? Two: I was in the shotgun seat. Three: Lyria was crying. I would have gladly joined her, but I was too exhausted to do much besides buckle my seatbelt and drop off to sleep.

I woke up the next morning feeling… wait, my leg was broken? How in the world did that happen? And I was in a queen-sized bed? And since when did I have a desk with a porcelain statue of a two-foot tall eagle?

I got out of bed and instantly felt completely exhausted. I limped over to the door, opened it and looked outside. There was a huge field in front of the house, and to the northwest there was… was that an archery range? No way.

There were kids playing baseball and basketball on a basketball court and some other kids playing tennis. I saw some girls having a picnic and, gosh, one of them glanced over at me and my heart started running a gymnastics course. We stared at each other for like, six minutes. She had long, chestnut and hypnotic sea blue eyes. I thought her dress was even glowing. She smiled at me and got up. I started walking towards her.

It was probably the most embarrassing moment of my entire life. I mean, I had completely forgotten my leg was broken (I still hadn't figured that one out), and I just, started walking normally. When my mind came back to earth, I had fallen on the ground, and my shin felt like it had just been stabbed through with a knife. I was being carried by . . . whew, boys were carrying me on a stretcher. And I think I saw that girl by my side, but I wasn't exactly sure who it was, because my vision started getting fuzzy. And I blacked out.

For the second time I woke up from unconsciousness, but this time I wasn't in the White House. Actually, I was on a blanket outside, and Lyria was sitting to my right, which made me feel better.

"Where are we?" I said. "And who is -" all of the sudden Beauty Queen came from behind me and gave me a cup of water, then sat down on my left, grinning at me (was she stalking me or what?). I took a sip of the water with my face feeling hot, and then said to Lyria, "So, what is this place? And what happened to Durrand and Mom and Dad?"

Her smile faded and she shook her head and sighed.

"I don't know about them, but I promise we'll see them again." She smiled again and said, "Nye, I'd like you to meet Agnes Kellandro." She gestured toward Miss fall-in-love-with-me-on-sight-or-die. "You two are going to have so much fun together. Agnes will show you around and introduce you to the camp. She'll tell you anything you need to know."

Agnes wrapped her left arm around my body and helped me to my feet, resting her right arm on my chest (am I describing this with too much detail?) to steady me as she helped me limp down the hill. It hurt to move, but for some reason being right next to her took away the pain. When we reached the bottom of the hill she let go of me and whistled. A few seconds later a huge white stallion galloped across the field to where we were. No, wait. Not a stallion, because this one had . . . A Pegasus!?

"You look like you're looking at a ghost!" Said Agnes, giggling.

"Well I am, aren't I?" I said. I guess it sounded pretty stupid, because she burst out laughing.

"No, we have a mansion-sized stable full of these! But they usually just like to roam around in the pasture. This is Finellie. She'll fly us around so I can get you used to the layout of the camp easier."

Suddenly a wave of nausea passed over me. The Pegasus' knees buckled and it fell over. Concern drifted over Agnes' face and she knelt down next to the horse.

"What in the world?" She said. I felt a searing pain in two places on my back and groaned. She turned her head and gave me a look of pure terror. She cupped her hands over her mouth and gasped.

"Nye! You, you have . . . you have wings!" Ooookaay. That's weird, I thought. Wings? She was definitely joking about this.

"I WHAT?!"

"I said you have wings! They just sprouted out of your back! I have no idea why, but you definitely have wings. We need to go talk to Mr. Jackson about-"

"Wait." I interrupted, "Mr. Jackson? As in Percy Jackson? The real Percy Jackson? I . . . I thought that was just a story!"

"Percy Jackson a story?! Are you kidding me? Percy Jackson was the most powerful and courageous demigod besides Hercules ever! This place is Camp Half-Blood, which is his home. You'll be hearing his name along with Piper, Leo, Jason, Annabeth, Hazel and Frank. You shouldn't be surprised that the gods are real since you have wings. Anyway, to answer your question, yes, the real Percy Jackson is the assistant director for Camp Half-Blood. Now come on, let's go ask him about your . . . um, problem."