Chapter 1

Sophia, to sum things up, was doing well in school. Despite being an orphan, life was decent. She had good grades, (some) friends, and the teachers loved her. Vinum on the other hand, was the complete opposite. Which explained why Corinna and Sophia found her shoved against her locker by Samuel, cliche school bully. She didn't seem that upset about it. In fact, she appeared more bored than terrified, regardless of whatever he was shouting to her.

"How's it feel being the daughter of a drunk?" He taunted, and Vinum stifled a yawn.

"I don't know, I guess boring and normal," She said while yawning. "Can I go now?"

Corinna, on the other hand, felt a flame ignite in her heart at the sight of one of her few friends in school being bullied, though Vinum didn't seem to be affected by his words. Before her instincts went blazing all out, Sophia restrained her, whispering, "Get a teacher. It's wiser."

Corinna smiled. Sophia always had a good plan.

"Samuel Johnson!" Someone yelled. Vinum turned to her right to see their new geography teacher glaring at him. "Mind explaining what's going on?"
Samuel groaned, causing Vinum to smirk. "Nothing, Mrs Smith," He gruntled, dropping Vinum and walking off.

If Mrs Smith helped me, it must be so she can kill me herself. Vinum thought, chuckling to herself, before realising Mrs Smith was watching her fiercely. In the blink of an eye, Vinum briskly walked away from her, heading towards the spot where Sophia and Corinna were standing.

"Yeah, let's get to class before Mrs Smith snaps my neck," Vinum whispered, leading the two of them to class.

"Well, good luck with THAT, cause our next class is Geography," Corinna remarked, just so she could see Vinum's reaction. She always had this strong hatred towards the woman. To make matters worst, Vinum was the class' geography representative, meaning more "bonding" time with the new teacher.

"Damn," Vinum said to herself, though audible enough for her friends to hear.

Despite how Mrs Smith was an old wrinkly woman whose face looked like a bulldog, Sophia noted how she had inhumane speed. Once they stepped into class, Mrs Smith was already standing there, watching them.

"You're late," She firmly stated.

"You don't sa-" Vinum tried to remark, before Sophia rudely cut her off. "Sorry, Mrs Smith!"
Sophia turned to face Vinum, sighing at her, as though she was trying to tell Vinum how sarcastic remarks would make Mrs Smith punish them.

Mrs Smith didn't seem to bother anymore, and the three made their way to their seats. Vinum dropped onto her chair, before noticing something sticking out from under her desk. A slip of paper.

Drunk loser!

"Seriously? Who calls people losers nowadays?" Vinum whispered. Well, it had to be Charlotte, whom she could hear snickering, annoying heels scratching against the ground.

"Ms Dione! Is that a note?" Mrs Smith called. All eyes were on her. Vinum could feel Charlotte's clique watching her.

"Er... Yes?" Vinum said. Sophia sighed. Was now really the best time to be honest? Then Mrs Smith decided to show off her inhumane sight as well.

"See me after class."

"Whatever..."

As Corinna put her books back in her bag, she turned to see Vinum being escorted out of class by Mrs Smith. But something was definitely out of place. Instead of leading her out, Mrs Smith was dragging her out. She noticed how Vinum was wincing, as Mrs Smith wrapped her hands around Vinum's arm. Sophia noticed too. Her nails had to be really sharp to cause Vinum pain. Vinum was wearing a thick hoodie, meaning either Mrs Smith sharpened her nails, or Vinum was exaggerating.

Sophia and Corinna glanced at the other, and both seemed to be thinking the same thing. They had to find out what Mrs Smith was going to do to Vinum. The duo dashed out of the classroom, following their devil for a teacher around every turn, ignoring the strange looks they got from other students. Then they found her. But something was off.

A grotesque thing was holding Vinum by her neck and nearly squeezing the breath out of her. The thing had two horns sticking out of it's head, and was half-man, half-bull. The Minotaur, Pasiphae's son, Sophia recalled from her Greek mythology textbook. Vinum's look of distinct boredness was replace my a look of sheer terror, as she gasped for Sophia and Corrina to help.

Just as Sophia and Corrina were about to collapse from horror, a boy whom had always seemed to be just like them, an oddball in a prestigious school like this, Percy Jackson, came dashing round the corner and was pulling several weapons out of a belt. Wait, weapons? Sophia couldn't believe her eyes. What was with those sharp knives and that long sword he was holding? Percy threw one of the knives at Sophia, who nearly dropped it in surprise. "What am I supposed to do with this?" Sophia yelled. Percy didn't respond. He was trying to snap the bull's horn off with his sword, but it wasn't easy to do without choking Vinum, who was being squeezed tighter every time the Minotaur dodged Percy.

Corrina looked on the point of breaking into a fit of anger at the sight of one of the only friends being tortured. When Corrina looked almost beside herself, a lightning bolt crashed through the window and nearly hit Sophia, but she deflected it with her blade at the right moment and it hit the head of the Minotaur squarely in the forehead, who released Vinum from his grip at once. Taking advantage of this situation, Sophia dragged Vinum away quickly when the Minotaur was confused. Corrina was still staring blankly at herself, unable to believe what she had just done. Percy had finished off the Minotaur when it was still confused, leaving only a pile of sand on the ground to indicate it had ever existed.

"What's going on?" Vinum demanded. She had turned purple from asphysication and was still breathing hard. "Yeah, we want to know too."

Percy ignored the three of them and walked over to the water fountain. He threw a coin as big as a Girl Scout's cookie into the water fountain and said, "O Iris, goddess of the rainbow, show me Annabeth Chase at Camp Half-Blood." Sophia looked like her brain was going at 200 miles per minute. Iris was the goddess of the rainbow and Hermes's helper, so this must be an offering to her, in order for communication with someone. But did she even exist, or was this guy crazy?

An image appeared in the mist. It showed a pretty blonde girl with stormy grey eyes, who looked just like Sophia, except for the hair. The three girls listened intently as they heard Percy mutter something like: found three... no satyr... bull man... Zeus... coming to camp soon... see you. Then, he slashed his hand through the mist and the image disappeared. Percy turned around, his sea-green eyes filled with worry. "We need to leave now. I'll explain on the way."

They arrived at the school's entrance, where Percy flagged down a cab and handed the driver a piece of paper and he started driving. The three girls didn't bother to decipher the words on the paper: they were all hopelessly dyslexic- one of the reasons why Samuel targeted them constantly.

"About that explanation?" Sophia hinted, trying to get Percy's attention.

"Later," He simply replied.

"Are you crazy? You just said you'd tell us on the way!" Corinna snapped.

"I don't think he is. He seems sane," Vinum said, crossing her arms.

Silence followed, but Sophia glanced at Percy from time to time, hoping he would finally give her that long-awaited explanation. Why did I even follow him? My parents are gonna be worried as hell!
"Damnit, I left my bag in school!" Vinum groaned. Sophia and Corinna's eyes widened.

"My books!" Sophia whined, burying her face in her hands.

"Forget your books! What about my project work?" Corinna grumbled.

"Damn, my phone..."
"Keep it down back there!" The taxi driver yelled, and the three sighed spontaneously.

Finally, the taxi stopped at the roadside. "Are you sure you want me to let you off here? There's nothing except the forest. "Yes," Percy answered curtly, as he trudged through the forest, seeming not to care about the branches sticking out everywhere.

"Cool, are we going hiking?" Vinum asked, clearly more excited than she should be.

Percy didn't deign himself to respond. He just continue pushing through the bush until they reached a clearing, with a wooden arch that lead into a narrow path. There were several Greek words on the arch that Sophia somehow managed to decipher as: Camp Half-Blood.

"Is that a racist joke or something?" Vinum asked aloud.

Percy ignored her, leading them onward.

Percy ran down the path until they reached some sort of a camp. It had rock walls, arenas and a part of the camp was surrounded by a beach. More than a dozen cabins surrounded a small hearth. The cabins were the strangest assortment ever. Some were glowing, others were inscribed with marble columns and Greek words. There was one which shone brightly in the sun, causing the girls to look away. Vinum noticed one in the distance with grape vines all over it. Dionysus it read. "Isn't that the wine dude?" She asked Percy.

Before she knew it, she tripped. "What the-?" Vinum cried, turning to see what she had tripped on. A grape vine.

"Yeah, you shouldn't say that," Percy responded. She swore she could see him grin a little.

The same girl in the mist had thrown herself into Percy's arms, gaining several glares from female campers all around. Vinum cleared her throat loudly, causing them to break apart awkwardly, blushing red. Percy introduced the girl as Annabeth. Annabeth turned to Percy. "These girls need to see Chiron now. And the orientation film." "Before we do that, can someone please explain what on Earth is going on?" Sophia demanded. She hated not knowing what was going on. Annabeth turned to face her.
"You're in Camp Half Blood. Do you know who your parents are?" Sophia shook her head. She had been an orphan for as long as she could remember. She usually didn't like to talk about them.

"My mom's a newspaper editor. My dad's a wine manufacturer in Europe, haven't seen him before. He left after my mother was pregnant," Vinum replied. Percy and Annabeth traded worried glances.

"Don't tell me..." Percy sighed. Wine manufacturer... Seriously?

"What?" Vinum asked in confusion. Percy took this time to take in Vinum's appearance. Curly black hair, purple eyes. She was definitely his daughter. I can't be so sure just yet. Her skin is too dark to resemble his.

"Follow me. You gotta see Chiron at the big house," Annabeth said, walking away from them. The three quickened their pace to keep up with her.

"So, this orientation film will explain everything?" Corinna asked. Annabeth turned to reply. "Y-"

Suddenly, Annabeth and Percy began staring at something above Sophia's head. It was a silver hologram of an owl. All the campers started noticing it too and they all started bowing. Sophia hated the attention. "Please explain, somebody, anybody?"

"Cool, magic!" Vinum exclaimed.

Annabeth's eyes sparkled with joy as she announced (was that pride in her eyes? Sophia couldn't tell), "All hail Sophia Madison, Daughter of Athena, goddess of wisdom, battle strategy and useful arts. And more importantly, my younger sister!"

"Wait, what?!"