When the boy rounded a corner of the busy Manhattan street on his motorcycle, I flashed him a smile and waved. With a quick jerk of the handlebars, he pulled over to the sidewalk and stopped the bike. The black paint of the Honda CB500X matched the midnight of his helmet, which was sitting in his lap. The sun was shining, a blessing after a week of non-stop rain, and a bike ride sounded fun.

"Planning on going to school today?" I asked, gesturing to the bike.

"I don't know, Circe. It's a nice day…" his voice trailed off, clearly asking permission. I looked at the sky. There was nothing I wanted to do more than hop on the bike and get far away from the city. I wanted to move and keep moving. He caught my eye and knew that my decision was already made. Laughing, I got on the bike and wrapped my arms around his waist. "Where do you want to go?" he shouted over the roar of the engine.

"Anywhere, Percy," I laughed, "just get me away from here!"

Waves gently crashed onto white sand as we stopped the bike and flipped the kickstand up. The parking lot was completely deserted and the beach was left untouched. I kicked off my sneakers and dug my feet into the warm sand. Completely disregarding the amount of time I had taken to get ready this morning, I sat down on the sand. The wind was just a bit too cold for a spring that was switching to summer, but I enjoyed the way it made the sea break and crash a little bit early or late.

"So, I never asked you this, but why 'Circe'?" Percy sat down next to me and looked out at the ocean.

Puzzled, I looked at him. "You mean my name?"

"Yeah," he stopped staring at the ocean and looked at me instead, "it's not every day you meet someone with a name from Greek mythology."

For a second I just watched him, wide eyed, and then I started to laugh. "No, I suppose you don't, do you, Perseus?" This prompted him to chuckle a bit, but he still continued to watch me. "My mother was a writer," I fidgeted with my pockets, "so naturally she loved writing stories about heroes. For her, there was nothing like the Greek heroes: demigods of extraordinary talent and power. While researching, she came across Circe, a witch who was betrayed by anyone she had ever trusted, and fell in love with the whole 'romantic' aspect of it." I let out a quiet sigh. "I suppose when I was born and dad left, she fancied herself as Circe and named me for it." My story, done, faded into the chilled air.

"I like it." He said, smiling. "It fits you." We laughed and watched the skyline. Silence surrounded us, broken only by the gentle crashing and breaking of the waves. It was comfortable like this, I realized. I truly enjoyed Percy's company and the way that being around him relaxed me. After all I had been through with my mom's death; it was enjoyable being around someone who didn't feel compelled to talk endlessly about stuff no one cared about.

But of course, the hag had to crash out of the sky and completely ruin my day.

When the hag first came out of the sky, I was confused and more than a little scared. Then, Percy uncapped a pen, which turned into a sword (I kid you not), and stepped in front of me. "What do you want, Ms. Dodds?" he growled and looked very pissed off.

If I weren't half scared to death, I would have snorted. Ms. Dodds? Puh-lease. I guess when a hag is flying at your face, names aren't as funny. She dived down low and stepped closer to Percy and I. "I want the girl." She hissed. Percy's eyes widened and I lost it.

I was not scared anymore.

In a classic piece of 'Circe disruptive behavior', I stepped out from behind Percy, lifted the sword out of his hands, and stabbed through her chest. The hag disintegrated into a pile of ash and dust, screaming the whole time. With a quick movement, I turned back to Percy and handed him the sword. He caped it and looked at me with a strange expression.

"What in the hell was that?" I was completely sure that I had gone insane.

"Look Circe, I really want to explain this but it's gonna have to wait until we get to camp. So for now our best plan," he pointed over my head, "is to run."

About 500 yards away was this big thing and it was running at full speed.

"Yeah," I took his outstretched hand, "I like that plan."