Chapter 1

I Get Ambushed on my Way to The Girl's Bathroom

I sat up straight in bed.

"Whoa," I muttered to myself. That dream had been so real. I had started out dreaming that Thalia and Grover had been flying around wearing flying shoes exactly like the pair Luke had given me, while Chiron waltzed around with Annabeth, but that part of the dream wasn't important, because suddenly the dream had changed. I was standing by the Princess Andromeda as the evil voice of Kronos spoke to me. It said, "Be wary, young hero, for you have not yet escaped my wrath." It was then that I had awoken in cold sweat only to find myself in my own room at my own house.

I felt uneasy as I made way downstairs for breakfast. My mom was at the stove making blue pancakes, a special treat for me.

"Hey, Mom."

"Hi, Percy."

The pancakes sizzled on the griddle, a sound that I was always pleased to hear. My mom bustled around the kitchen, busying herself with small tasks such as flipping over pancakes and making sure they didn't burn. I just hate the small of burnt food, with the exception of burning camp food in the fire, a sacrifice to the gods.

"Could you hurry up with those pancakes? I'm starved."

My mom smiled and doled out three pancakes on to my plate. I was still thinking about the voice of Kronos, but that didn't stop me from digging in as soon as I got my plate full of delicious pancakes.

My mom sat down with me and asked, "Any disturbing dreams lately?"

"No, why?"I lied.

"You were talking in your sleep last night again."

She had cornered me.

"It was...nothing."

I could tell she wasn't convinced by the look on her face, but she let it slide.

"So, is Tyson still coming up to spend the day with you after school?" she asked, changing the subject.

I nodded. Tyson, my half brother on my dad's side, was a Cyclops, and also my best friend. He was going to come up and we were going to hang out around town. I was hoping to catch a movie with him later, a new horror flick that I was hoping would actually be scary. All of the horror movies I had seen so far after learning that I was a half-blood had failed to scare me;I had seen much, much worse.

"Yeah," I replied absentmindedly, without looking up from my pancakes. I was still thinking about Kronos and how I had seen him in Luke's body. He had looked exactly as Luke had before, but his eyes had been a liquid golden color. I shivered at the thought.

"Percy? Are you cold?" my mom asked.

"Nah, I'm fine, Mom. It's just... never mind."

My mom looked at me curiously, but again let it slide. That was one of the reasons why I loved my mom. She would trust that you would tell her if something bad ever came up, but in case of a kid like me, that might not always be a good thing.

As I headed off to school that day I thought it was going to be just another normal day. (Well, about as normal as it gets when you're a demigod.) That had to be the worst assumption I have ever made.

It all started when, during English class, an old janitor came in and whispered to my teacher, then walked out. As I was sitting there wondering what that had been about, I noticed my teacher, Mrs. Pellsworth, giving me a funny look. I accidentally caught her eye, but looked away as soon as I had. Something strange was definitely going on.

I wondered if it had anything to do with camp. Ah, camp. As I drifted off into a daydream about Camp Half-Blood, I didn't notice Mrs. Pellsworth still staring at me, almost hungrily. I was still off at camp with Annabeth, Grover, Chiron, Mrs. O'Leary, the wood nymphs, dryads, and satyrs when she snapped me back into reality.

"Mr. Jackson, the principal would like to see you in his office," Mrs. Pellsworth stated loudly enough for the whole class to hear. Everyone snickered.

"Wanna bet," I muttered under my breath.

"What was that Mr. Jackson?"

"Nothing, nothing, I'll get going,"

I got out of my seat and sauntered out the door. I wondered what I had been framed for this time. Last time I had been sent to the principal's office it was because a hellhound had somehow found its way into school and was advancing on me. I had pulled my sword, Riptide, out, but the Mist had contorted it to look like a gun, so after the hellhound had exploded into yellow powder, the school had suspended me for having a gun on school property. My mom and Paul had somehow convinced them that nothing of the sort had ever happened, so I got to return to school the next week. Yippee!

I looked up and found that I was standing by the principal's doorway already. I guess my feet had treaded this path so many times they already knew the way. As I was preparing to open the door to the office, something invisible tackled me. I pulled out Riptide and looked up just to see my friend Annabeth standing over me, holding her Yankees cap. I grinned at her, a grin she did not return.

"What are you doing?!" she said through clenched teeth.

"Um... going to the principal's office..?" I said, confused.

"The principal's office is over there, Seaweed Brain! This is the entrance to the girl's bathroom!"

I squinted at the sign on the door and felt a blush creeping up my cheeks as I realized that it said Ladies on it. My dyslexia must've been acting up, because as I looked at it now it seemed obvious what it said. My dyslexia always acted up when I was nervous, so I guess I must've been really worried that being sent to the principal's office had something to do with camp. Otherwise, how would "Ladies" look like "Principal's Office"?

"This is the 7th time this year I've been sent to the principal's office for something that either I didn't do or it had to do with camp! Don't blame me if my dyslexia's acting up .This time I was worried that it would be both." I said defensively. Annabeth, like me and just about all other half-bloods, also had dyslexia, and I hoped she would relent some.

If that had sobered her up a bit, she didn't show it. "That's no reason to be hanging around the girl's bathroom!"she said. "You've been standing here for probably the last five minutes!"

I gazed around at the deserted hallway uncomfortably, trying to think of a comeback. Annabeth sighed.

"Jeez, Seaweed Brain," she muttered under her breath. Then she seemed to find herself. She grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the school exit.

"Wait! I was supposed to go to the prin-" but then I stopped myself, realizing if we kept going I would get out of going to the principal's office.

She turned around exasperatedly. "Don't you get it Percy? I used the Mist to convince the teacher to get you out of class."

"Ohhhh... That's why the janitor who told my teacher to send me to the principal's office had that confused look on her face" I said as comprehension dawned on me. Then I remembered the evil look Mrs. Pellsworth had given me. " Are there any monsters at this school?" I asked somewhat stupidly.

"Oh, Percy haven't you figured it out already? Your English teacher, Mrs. Pellsworth was one. We are not sure what she was, but it was definitely something evil."

She grabbed my arm again and started pulling me again, but I shook her off. "I can walk on my own you know."

She gave me a grudging smile and we continued outside. It was nice and breezy out side, late fall temperatures. I shivered.

"Where are we heading?" I wondered aloud.

"We're heading back to your mom's house, then we'll leave for camp." she answered. I could tell from the tone of her voice that something was wrong.

"Annabeth, what's going on? Did something happen? Why are you here?" She didn't answer a single one of my questions, just walked faster so we were walking at a brisk pace.

"Annabeth!" I panted as I tried to keep up.

"What?!"As she turned around I saw that tears were streaming down her face.

"Annabeth..?" I said weakly.