I raced up the steep hill, gasping for breath. Annabeth panted beside me, her little legs moving like a blur as she tried to keep up. I slipped my hand into hers. It was sweaty. Gross, I thought. Luke ran beside us, keeping pace with Grover, our guardian satyr. Grover bleated nervously.

"We'll never make it!" He cried.

"Yes, we will!" Luke yelled over the noise of monsters galloping behind us.

Annabeth screamed and started to trip as a hellhound snatched at her with its teeth. I pulled her to her feet and kept running. We finally reached the top of the hill, and the camp came into view.

"Get Luke and Annabeth to camp," I yelled at Grover. "I'll hold off the monsters!"

"No!" Grover bleated. "You were the one I was assigned to protect! I have to bring you back too!"

Annabeth started squirming around. Out of the corner of my eye, she looked like a dying worm.

"I'm staying to help Thalia!" Luke said, ignoring Grover's distressed moans.

"No," I said. "Go with Grover."

"Thalia, I'm not leaving you here!" Luke protested, as Annabeth grabbed his shirtsleeve and started dragging him toward Grover.

I sighed, and pushed him away, causing Annabeth to stumble into Grover, who hit the back of his head on a tree.

"Ow," He said. "Ow!"

"Sorry," I mumbled, fumbling for my sword. I watched until Grover and Annabeth managed to drag Luke through the magical boundaries that protected the camp, and then turned to face our pursuers.

I slashed and swung my sword wildly, hardly keeping control. I ducked as a sharp blade just missed severing off my head.

"Hey!" I protested. "I need my head!" The blade cut off a clump of my spiky black hair instead. I sighed with relief, then gasped as long claws raked down my back. I felt blood ooze down the back of my leg. Spinning around, I was confronted with a familiar looking Fury.

"Hi," I said nervously. "Have we met?" The Fury screeched at me, blasting my brains out. By the time I could see again, monsters were getting ready to pounce on me.

"I'm gonna be deaf," I complained to them. They probably didn't care, but they decided to end my misery anyways. They all closed in, and last thing I remember was the Fury cackling. Not the best parting gift, huh?

I tried to open my eyes, but I couldn't. I couldn't even open my mouth to call for help. All I could feel was wind the blowing my hair around. It was annoying, but my arms were apparently out of order too, so I couldn't do anything about it. I staid there for what seemed like forever. Everything was dark. I tried wiggling my toes, but they weren't there. Well, this is weird, I thought. I would've said it out loud, but I don't usually talk to myself. Plus, my mouth decided to go on vacation, or something. In any case, I was helpless. Suddenly, my head hit something hard. I was surprised my head was still there, considering the fact that the rest of my vital body parts seemed to have vanished. I opened my eyes, but my vision was blurry.

"Ouch," I said.

"Thalia!" A familiar voice said. I squinted, and made out Annabeth's face. But she looked different. Her blonde hair was longer, and she looked older.

"What happened to you…?" I asked dreamily. Another head popped into my vision. Jet black hair like mine, but green eyes instead of my blue ones. I probably would've thought this guy was cute, but he was, unfortunately, an intruder. I struggled to sit up, and punched him in the nose. He yelled and took a step backwards. I smiled triumphantly.

"Hey!" He complained.

"Thalia, are you okay?" Annabeth brushed the other kid aside.

"No," I said. "But I'll make it." I stood up, and my legs started to turn to jelly. I leaned on a tree.

"My nose still hurts," The boy complained, glaring at me, then looking at Annabeth for help. He rubbed it, still scowling.

"I can make it hurt worse," I told him. I was hoping to start a fight, but he just sighed.

"Percy, shut up," Annabeth commanded. "Thalia, we need to get you back to camp."

"Where's Luke?" I asked. "And who's Percy?" I threw a scrap of tree bark at the guy. He ducked, and brushed his hair out of his eyes.

"Okay, okay!" He put his hands up. "You don't like me, I get it!"

"Percy is…well, Percy." Annabeth grinned at the boy, who gave her sarcastic thumbs up.

"What about Luke?" I was prepared for him to pop out and scare me to death. I looked around. We were on top of the hill that I had blacked out on.

Annabeth looked pained.

"Where is he?" I demanded.

"Thalia, relax," Annabeth said, avoiding the subject. "Come on." She started walking toward camp. Percy followed her, and I trailed behind him, trying to kick dirt all over the back of his jeans. He moved ahead of Annabeth, shooting an annoyed look at me. I scowled back.

"Is Luke at camp," I asked. "Or is there something you're not telling me?"

"There's a lot of things we're not telling you," Percy said. "And I'm not planning on telling you, either."

I punched him in the gut. "Shut up."

"Hey," He said. "Watch it."

"I'm Thalia, daughter of Zeus," I said, whacking him in the side of the head. "You don't scare me."

"I'm Perseus, son of Poseidon," He said. "Hi." He stuck his hand out at me. I pushed it away, and kept walking.

"Why doesn't she like me?" I heard him mutter to Annabeth. "I'm a likable person!"

"I guess," Annabeth told him, and Percy started to protest. "Just listen to Thalia and shut up. She's confused. She has no idea what's going on." Annabeth hit him on the side of the head, too. I gave her a mental high five.

"I heard that," I told them. "And I know what's going on!"

"Yeah?" Percy said. "Then tell me."

"I was just fighting off a bunch of monsters so you and Luke could escape to camp," I told Annabeth instead of Percy. "And—hey, Annabeth, why are you so tall…what's going on?" I asked. I was really confused. "And who's the Perseus dude?"

"Please," Percy said sarcastically. "Call me Percy."

I was starting to get worried. Since when was Annabeth taller then me? Annabeth sighed.

"Okay, here's the deal," She said. "You were fighting a bunch of monsters, you were basically about to die, your dad took pity on you, you got turned into a tree…and here you are a few years later after you were released from your…bark."

"No, really," I said. "What's going on?"

"What she said," Percy informed me, pointing to Annabeth.

I shook my head. "Stop messing with me." I staggered, and almost fell over. "I'm having a bad hair day." I poked at my spikes incredulously.

"Uh, Thalia?" Annabeth bit her lip. "You always wear your hair that way."

I grinned at her, then blacked out.

"Again…?" I asked when I could think again.

"What?" Percy's voice is the most annoying sound in the world. "You just blacked out. No biggie."

"Last time I blacked out I got turned into a tree for a few years. Naturally, I have black-out-phobia."

"Uh…" Percy scratched his arm. "Yeah."

I sat up. I was in a large house, lying on a sofa.

"The Big House," I said slowly. "We're back at camp."

"Looks like it," Percy whistled a few lines of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.

"Shut up," I told him.

"Why do I get the feeling I'm going to be hearing that from you a lot?" He asked.

"You're a moron." I told him.

"Oh," He said. "Is that a compliment?"

I sat up. "Where's Annabeth?"

"Uh," He said. "Somewhere."

I climbed off the sofa, and started walking toward the door. Percy followed me.

"You're a stalker," I said.

"No, I'm a half-blood." He joked.

"Lame joke," I said. We walked across the volleyball court. Percy got hit in the head with volleyball.

I smiled. "Sweet," I told the camper that had thrown the ball.

"Hey," Percy scowled at me.

I poked him in the forehead. He ignored me and headed towards the Athena cabin. Oh, I thought to myself. Duh.