Chapter One

Learning to trust is one of life's most difficult tasks.
Isaac Watts

~x~

"I'm leaving," Cassadee stated solemnly through the cellphone. She was standing in the middle of a group of people all waiting for the train. Most looked like tourists, wearing shirts that stated "I Heart New York" with cameras hung loosely around there necks or hanging from their hands. All were on their way back to the city in which their shirts proclaimed their love for. Cassadee never understood why tourists insisted on wearing those useless novelty shirts or why they continued on coming to Poughkeepsie instead of staying in New York. Cassadee stuck out terribly in the morning rush, a hood over her long, wavy, black hair, Converse, ripped jeans, black sweatshirt, and a backpack to hold everything else she thought she would need. Nobody could see her face since she was looking down at the ground as she talked into the phone quietly. She had left in a hurry, pulling the hood of her sweatshirt over her head she departed from the newly empty house.

"What?" Cassadee's boyfriend, well, ex-boyfriend, Eric said incredulously. Eric was a year older than her and they had been dating for three years, ever since she was fifteen. It had been as serious as it could've been at that age. A kid in love never was something she thought she would have to call herself, but, as she knew all too well then, things change. Cassadee didn't think of him at all when she started packing and it was just a last minute thought to call him. "Why are you leaving," he demanded.

Why? That was a good question. Cassadee was a muddled mess. Her mother's tragic death definitely left Cassadee on a downward spiral. Of all things, a plane crash that killed everybody inside. Her mother always had hated heights but, when a family emergency occurred, she left for California telling Cassadee that she'd "be home soon." Unfortunately, the plane was somehow lost on its way there, how they can lose a giant flying vehicle above land without a body of sea on the entire route escaped Cassadee.

Cassadee didn't believe that her mother deserved to die, but every daughter would think that. She had done her best, having to raise a child on her own. Cassadee's father had left them weeks after she was born and they never heard from him again. She kept the house afloat and they always had food to eat and each had a bed to sleep on.

The day Cassadee heard of her mother's death, Eric came over to her house. He found her lying on her bed, sobbing. Eric went and comforted her; it was a good notion until it lead somewhere that Cassadee never thought it would go. She let herself be vulnerable, which, for Eric, meant that he could have her, completely and wholly. And she let him. It was the act of a desperate girl's urgent need for happiness. In the end, though, it left Cassadee empty and unsure of herself.

After, she didn't know what to do. She wandered around her newly acquired house (which didn't take long considering its one story with two bedrooms and a kitchen/living room) as if she had never seen it before. Everything was different to her, the silence, the emptiness, and lack of the home feeling she'd grown accustomed to. She hated herself for what she let happen, even if it wasn't her fault. It could've been argued that it was the family emergency that was in California's fault. It's hard to convince that to a broken teen who was forced into being independent.

It's been two weeks since that day and Eric's why has been a question she's been continuously asking herself. Unfortunately, the answers were few including the one to Eric's current version of the question. "I don't know why, but I know that I have to," Cassadee said exasperatedly.

The train stopped in front of the crowd and as the doors opened Cassadee was pushed toward them by the group of people. She hurriedly found an empty seat and took it. "Where are you," Eric asked. Cassadee heard the sound of keys clanging together on the other line. The train doors closed just as one last person ran through them and took the last seat, which was next to Cassadee.

"It doesn't matter, I'm already gone," just as she said that the train moved forward. The excited babble of tourists combined with the noise from the train drowned out her voice, forcing her to raise it. Despite the change, she still kept it cold and emotionless.

"Cassie," he sighed.

"Stop," Cassadee's voice had turned angry. She hated that nickname. "I can't be here right now, you have to understand that," Eric was silent on the other end. "Look, I'm leaving and I don't know if I'm coming back," there was a finality in her voice. In actuality, though, she had no idea what this new place would hold for her. Cassadee had found an envelope with her name on it in her mother's room. It contained a letter telling her about a place just outside of New York City called Camp Half-Blood. The name was odd but if it her mother trusted it then Cassadee would at least go there.

"Can you tell me where you're going," Eric seemed to be pleading now and the sadness in his voice was taking its toll on Cassadee. She couldn't care, not now.

"No," her voice was flooded with sorrow. Cassadee couldn't keep talking to him or else she would just go back, which is something she swore she wouldn't do. She felt her eyes water, "I-I have to go. I'm sorry."

Before Cassadee got off the phone she heard one last rushed "I love you" from Eric. That sent one tear over the rim of her eye. She exhaled deeply and put the back of her head to the window. Her foggy eyes stared at the ceiling. The train was loud, too loud for her liking and too crowded. Nobody notices the girl in misery, Cassadee thought.

"Are you alright," the person beside her asked. Cassadee turned her head, she was expecting it to be an annoying tourist who wanted a picture of the girl he "saved," but instead she saw a guy about her own age. He had shaggy black hair, dark eyes-endlessly onyx black-with one covered by his hair, and pale skin. The natural features the man had were mysterious, the hair looked impossibly black and the eyes, could an iris really be black? He wore gray skinny jeans, a pair of Converse-like her own, and a black shirt covered by an aviator jacket. He looked lean, almost lanky, yet there was an unmistakable air of strength surrounding him. He was the epitome of tall, dark, and handsome but it wasn't his looks that caught Cassadee, it was his eyes. There was something different, it wasn't the color, however endless they were, they looked like they'd seen too many days.

He, in turn, looked taken aback by Cassadee's image. Her sea green eyes held the same thing that Cassadee found in his. But the color of them and her tan skin looked all too familiar to the man. "Yeah, I'm fine," Cassadee lied as she wiped the tear falling down her cheek. "I just need to figure out where I'm going," that was true. Cassadee had no idea where this camp was and didn't know how to get there, either. Her mother had left her with little money, most of which she spent on the train ticket. "Or at least how to get where I'm going."

"I might be able to help, I've lived in New York longer than I can remember," he smiled warmly at Cassadee. "My name's Nico, by the way."

"My name's Cassadee," she gave a small smile back, it was all she could manage. Cassadee started rifling through her bag to find the letter from her mother. When she found it she recited the address back to Nico, "Do you know where that is?"

"Yeah, I was heading there anyway," Nico's eyes betrayed his calm demeanor. "You won't mind getting a ride with me and my friend?" Cassadee shook her head no. She knew it was irresponsible to trust a random guy on the train but he looked like someone she could depend on to get her to there. Besides she had no other way of getting to the camp.

After being on the train for an hour-and-a-half, they had finally reached New York. When the doors opened, Nico took Cassadee's hand and lead her through them. They walked through a long tunnel filled with people going to and fro. They exited the tunnel and entered into the Main Concourse of Grand Central Terminal. Cassadee stared in amazement at the whole place. The ceiling was painted green with constellations supposedly in a God's view. In the middle of the concourse there was the information desk that surrounded the famed clock of Grand Central. Four faces each made with opal gleaming brightly as one of the most recognized pieces in New York.

Nico continued to hold Cassadee's hand as he walked her through Grand Central, out the door and into the streets of New York City. It was busier than Cassadee had ever imagined. Never did she expect so many people to accumulate in one place. They all walked around in a rush, nobody seemed to have time to just revel in the tall buildings or to take in where they were. "Hey, Annabeth," Nico waved to a tall, athletic, blonde-haired girl, who was about a year older than him and Cassadee, standing next to a black Escalade.

Nico walked them over to Annabeth. Upon closer view Cassadee noted Annabeth's stormy gray eyes and sun-kissed skin; she looked like the stereotypical California girl, except for the gray streak running through her hair. "Who's this, Nico," Annabeth asked as him and Cassadee got in the backseat and Annabeth got in the driver's.

Cassadee let go of Nico's hand and set hers in her lap. "This is Cassadee," Nico began, "she says that she's headed to camp. I told her I could take her there," Annabeth had started the car and was making her way through the traffic leading out of town. She glanced at the mirror to see Cassadee.

Under her breath Annabeth said a chain of what sounded like Greek swears to Cassadee leaving her confused. She didn't look Greek, Cassadee thought. Although, she didn't focus on it for too long before her eyes started to close and she fell asleep.

~x~

As Cassadee slept she laid her head on Nico's shoulder who then wrapped his arm around her. "Nico, what do you think you're doing?" Annabeth asked angrily when she saw the pair in the backseat.

"What are you talking about?" Nico tried to act innocent but his motives were clear to the wise demigod-a child of a god and a mortal. Annabeth was a daughter of Athena. Nico was a son of Hades who was the carbon copy of his father. He was promiscuous yet somehow he always managed to get a poor girl into bed with him.

"I am talking about how you're going after a vulnerable new demigod. I saw her eyes, not only was the color startlingly familiar but they were also red. She clearly left something behind and you're willing to take advantage of that," Annabeth was disgusted with Nico. He had done a lot of things but Cassadee seemed different, tragically different. Even though Annabeth barely knew the girl she could see that one more calamity might send Cassadee over the edge.

"I'm not gonna do anything," Nico wasn't completely lying. He definitely found her attractive, she was slight but had curves that fit her body well. Annabeth was right, Nico knew he could easily get her into bed in all of her vulnerability but there was something stopping him. It wasn't her possible sibling (partially it was but Nico would never admit that) his conscience was kicking in and preventing him from doing anything emotionally harmful to the girl. From the moment saw her on the train he was intrigued by her. Nico never was one to comfort crying girls but for this one he made the exception.

"You better not. You know what would happen if we're right about this girl," Annabeth spoke from experience. She had seen the protectiveness that had come over the possible sibling and if it ever made its way toward Nico he wouldn't be able to fight back.

~x~

As Cassadee started to stir Annabeth stopped at the bottom of a hill. "C'mon Nico, we gotta hurry," Annabeth yelled as she hopped out of the car. She was in a mad dash to get to the top of the hill. Annabeth didn't know how long Cassadee would stay safe from monsters but it couldn't be long before they got to her.

"Cassadee, wake up," Nico said gently. Cassadee opened her eyes, as she took in her surroundings she quickly removed her head from Nico's shoulder and exited the car. Cassadee was beginning to trust Nico, which is something that she couldn't do. Trusting people never worked out well for her, especially someone she met on the train. She remembered what her mom told her when she started dating Eric, "Never trust a good-looking boy," now all Cassadee could think about was how she should've listened. Better late than never, Cassadee thought as she quickly turned away from Nico's smiling face and started up the hill.

"I don't think you can get this one, Nico," Annabeth whispered as they began walking behind Cassadee. Annabeth was correct. Cassadee didn't want any romantic relationships at this new place. She already had broken memories pushing her away from her home; she didn't need it happening again.

Nico, though, took it as a challenge. He hated Annabeth being right and he especially didn't want her to be about Cassadee. Nico thought he could past his unwilling conscience. He still wanted to get her; he needed to ignore any qualms about this girl. What could be the worst that could happen, Nico thought. She was old enough to handle herself, so what if he added her onto a long list of other women he'd done and forgotten?

As they were about to reach the top of a hill the trio heard the whooshing of wings. Above a piercing shriek was heard as the creature landed with a resounding thud that shook the ground below. It had the head, wings, and forelimbs of an eagle and the body of a lion. Nico and Annabeth knew this creature all too well, a griffin, they had fought one before but the one in front of them was much bigger. The last one was young this one, they could see, was a full grown griffin the size of a short school bus. Cassadee knew what the creature was, also, but she was focused on how it was here. She knew the griffin to be from Greek mythology and by it being here it was defying the myth part.

The griffin's beady eyes focused on Cassadee. The beast raised its hindquarters, she knew what this meant and made to get out of the way as the griffin pounced. She narrowly escaped its grasp but was caught by its talons, cutting her torso badly.

Annabeth pulled out her dagger. "Nico," he turned his head toward her, "get Cassadee to camp. I'll handle the griffin," Annabeth put her magic Yankees cap on turning her invisible.

Nico ran over to Cassadee who lay unconscious and shallowly breathing. He gently lifted her, putting one arm under her knees and the other arm on her back. Blood was running freely from her wounds, which looked rather deep.

Nico carefully ran Cassadee back to camp. At the entrance of the gates there was already a group of demigods going to help Annabeth and another ready to help Cassadee and Nico. "Where's Percy," Nico yelled.

"I'm here," a man stepped forward. He was about the same age as Annabeth with messy black hair-donning a single gray streak-perfectly tan skin, and sea green eyes that could remind anybody of a perfect beach day.

"Take her to the river," Nico advised as he passed Cassadee over to Percy. Percy furrowed his eyebrows at the instructions. "Just go and put her in the river. I have to go help Annabeth."

"Nico-"

"Percy, hurry!" Nico yelled urgency evident in his voice. Percy couldn't understand why she needed to go to the river, she was about to bleed out and her face was as white as a ghost, she needed the infirmary. But Percy had to trust Nico; he did find the girl so he must know something about her. He ran to the river and tentatively set Cassadee in the water. Percy put her in up to her chest so that the water would cover the wounds, although he wasn't sure what to expect.

The river lifted the blood from her wounds so that the four gashes could be clearly seen. They were deep, Percy noted, this isn't going to help her, he thought. He went to bring her out but, as he looked closely at the wounds he found the blood flow lessening and the wounds healing. Percy was dumbfounded, this couldn't be happening...unless. No. No. Sure enough, though, the wounds were healed only with the scars to prove they were there. The color had come back to Cassadee's face giving him the ability to notice it, a tan like she had just been to the beach. Hell, she even smelled like the ocean, Percy thought. Cassadee opened her eyes. Percy thought he was looking in a mirror; the color matched the same sea green eyes he had. Cassadee, on the other hand, was feeling better than when she had left her house that morning. She didn't even know she was in water until she looked down at her tattered sweatshirt. She took note of the scars; too, she couldn't remember having scars there. The last things she did remember was a griffin attacking her, which couldn't have been real. She moved her hand over the scars, there was a slight pain, like they were newly treated. Cassadee recalled the pain of being hit by the creature; she knew that she couldn't have dreamt anything like that up. It reminded her of the Freddy Krueger movies she used to watch, it was worse than her nightmares that she got from them. Cassadee felt the presence of another person behind her. Turning her head she saw a man. The first thing she noticed was his eyes, the color was an exact match to her own. They could've been related, the same black hair and the same tan skin. He was muscular, though, and athletically built. Cassadee wasn't a weakling but she couldn't be considered strong.

Cassadee started to move out of the river. The man's gaze was boring into her and she couldn't hold under its scrutinizing weight. He stopped her, though, "You gotta stay in the water in order to get your strength back," his deep voice spoke kindly and softly something that Cassadee wasn't expecting from him. He seemed to know what was going on and, for Cassadee that was enough. "What's your name," he asked.

"Cassadee," she replied quietly. She didn't return the question, instead focusing on his eyes. The likeness was remarkable to her own.

"My name's Percy, son of Poseidon," there was a blue shimmer above Cassadee's head. Percy smiled widely. Cassadee looked up and saw a blue trident hovering above her. She didn't know what to make of it. "And I guess you are, too," Percy said with the same smile persisting.

Across the river a group had formed to watch the pair. Annabeth and Nico stood in the front. Everybody was in awe, the similarities were overwhelming. When the trident appeared, floating above Cassadee's head, they all gasped. Annabeth smirked, "I was right," she whispered to Nico. She was genuinely happy for Percy; he deserved a sibling that was an actual human being. The only one he had was a Cyclops that was living in the ocean forgeries right now.

Nico, though, couldn't have been worse. He wanted her and when he wanted something he would get it. But now is when it got really tough. He couldn't defend himself against Percy if he does get Cassadee. Percy was definitely stronger and would no doubt keep her away from Nico, knowing his ways. She was the challenge Nico had been waiting for, though, and he was bound to get her.