Claire's POV:

All I could hear in the darkness was the sound of my heart frantically jumping as if it were on fire, and that was how it felt, on fire. The poison tipped arrow that had grazed my left arm was more dangerous than I had thought. The poison was working its way through my blood stream, reaching out for every part of my body before striking my heart. I touched one of my own arrows, which were strung across my back.

I took my arrows, and setting it ablaze with purple fire, shot it into the night sky. I watched it fly as I ran silently through the forest. Then I saw a response to my cry for help, an arrow tipped with normal fire. Help is coming; don't give in to Hades' clutches yet. I told myself and ran on.

My legs felt like lead, and my eyesight was blurring. I knew I wouldn't make it back to camp if I did not get back to camp immediately. Setting another arrow ablaze with white fire, I shot it into the air. It stood out nicely against the starless sky. Though for something so pretty, it had a terrible meaning. The meaning of a white fire arrow meant that the shooter is weak, and is close to death.

I slowed, but did not allow myself to stop moving. Moving would slow the progress of the poison. I wanted to slow it down the best I could so I moved as fast as I could without passing out. If I did pass out I would die. Looking up, I saw the response arrow I was looking for. They were closer.

I suddenly couldn't move. All I could see was white. This isn't good at all. It's moving through my blood stream faster that I anticipated. I felt for another arrow and covered it with ice, the sign of death.

I didn't wait for a response arrow. I let myself fall, and go into what I thought was my endless sleep.

I woke in the infirmary at the camp. "What happened? Why am I here? I thought I died." I managed to choke out before I was pushed back down onto the bed.

"Shush. You need to rest. The poison is not out of your body yet." I heard a quiet and caring voice say. The voice was familiar, but definitely did not belong to the nurse. I looked closely and concentrated completely on the face that was hovering above mine.

"Malcolm, what are you doing here? Where's the nurse?" I said, gagging on my own words as they left my mouth. Trying to sit up was a bad idea, because I got really dizzy before I was shoved back down onto the bed. "Claire, do you want to go have a visit with Hades?" Malcolm hissed when my head hit the pillow again a little bit too hard.

"Watch for names, Malcolm. They are more powerful than you would think." I was able to mutter before blacking out again.

You would think that when one passes out they do not have dreams. Most people do not, but those of us who are the sons or daughters of an immortal being are different. We have dreams at any time. Even if we are awake. Well, being a daughter of Apollo, my dream went sort of like this. I was walking on the beach, unarmed, without any armor. I had nothing other than the clothes on my back. Which were a t-shirt and shorts. I was also wearing flip-flops, which was really out of the ordinary for me.

Ok, so I was walking along the water when I heard someone call my name, "Claire!" The voice didn't sound worried, but just trying to get my attention, so I ignored it. Continuing to walk along the line of the water, I heard the voice again. It was familiar, but not one of the voices from camp. And the voice was definitely male.

"Claire!" The voice called again. This time I looked up to see who was calling for me. It was a boy, a teenage boy with black hair and intense green eyes. I could sense the ripple of waves beneath his skin.

"What?" I asked him when I was close enough. I had walked over to him slowly, for immense power was radiating out of him. He was not a god; I knew that, though he was a powerful being. He was not mortal. He was also a half-blood, or a demigod. And by the looks of it, he was a son of Poseidon, one of the big three.

"Claire, the camp is in need of you and the other Archers. Please come quickly, because I don't have much time left." He said. I shook my head in amazement. Camp Half-Blood is in danger?

"Wait," I said. "How do you know my name? We have not met before, and why do you contact me rather than our leader?" I didn't think this made much sense.

He nodded. "Yes, I'm sorry for not introducing myself. I'm Perseus Jackson. Most people just call me Percy. As to how I know your name and why I'm talking to you, Chiron told me to try to contact any of you, so I used a random 'empathy link' like thing to use on anyone who was sleeping at that moment. You were the only one who showed up. Everyone else is awake, so you have to carry out the message." He said, his voice getting a little quieter with each word. I nodded, indicating that I understood.

"I can do that." I said. My own voice was also getting quieter. I was getting close to waking up again. "I won't be asleep much longer. I will pass on the message, Perseus Jackson, son of Poseidon." I said as he nodded again. He understood.

"I will automatically leave when you wake up. Good- bye and take care, Claire Ashram, Daughter of Apollo." He said that and then disappeared from my view as a wooden ceiling replaced him.

"Malcolm?" I said. I no longer felt the burning in my body.

"Yeah?" He said, walking to my bedside. Placing o hand on my forehead, he continued to speak, "Are you okay? The poison is out of your system but it may have left some damage." I shook my head.

"No damage, and I'm feeling fine, but I really have to tell you something. It's really important."

Percy's POV:

My eyes were shut tight, and my fingers were on my temples. "The connection worked, I got a girl named Claire Ashram. She was the only one sleeping. For some reason, our 'meeting' was on a beach, with the sun setting. She ignored me at first, then I was finally able to get her attention, but I was only able to tell her the most important details." I said, opening my eyes and relaxing my hands. I could only see Annabeth, sitting in front of me. "Where'd Grover and Tyson and Chiron go?" I said when I noticed it was just Annabeth and me.

"They took off for dinner. I decided to stay with you. You've been here ever since breakfast, Seaweed Brain." She said, readjusting her ponytail. She was wearing white cargo shorts and an orange Camp Half-Blood tank top. It was very unusual because Annabeth strictly wore a t-shirt and jeans all the time if she could help it.

Annabeth's gray eyes bore into my green eyes. It looked like she was trying to tell me something, but I couldn't figure out what it was. After a few seconds, I really wanted to know what she was trying to tell me. "What?" I asked cocking my head to the left a little bit, still looking into her eyes as she looked into my own.

"Nothing really, I'm just trying to decide weather to tell you or not." She said. It was so like her to leave me hanging. I gave her a questioning look, my head still cocked to the side a bit.

She closed her eyes and shook her head like I was the cutest thing she'd ever seen. "I guess I tell you in manner that you'll have to figure out yourself. Have you seen Rachel anytime over the past year?" She asked. I nodded and said, "Yeah, of course! We go to the same school."

"Thought so." She paused before continuing. "Have you gone to any dances with her?" I nodded again before saying frantically, "Only as friends though! It didn't mean anything! I hadn't asked anyone yet, and she hadn't been asked. She looked sad about it so I asked her." Annabeth looked like she was going to strangle me. Then her eyes flashed with something else, I couldn't tell what it was, but she still looked dangerous. "So it didn't mean anything when she kissed you that night? If not, does that mean that our kiss meant nothing?" She whispered angrily. Tears were forming in her eyes. She was whispering because she didn't want her voice to crack.

"Annabeth," I whispered back to her, "I have no feelings for her like that. She told me she liked me and kissed me before I could say anything. I rejected her, and now she probably hates me. I think she dislikes you now, too." I said, laughing a little at the end.

She continued to glare at me. "Why wouldn't she like me if you're the one who rejected her, Seaweed Brain?" She hissed at me. I shook my head the same way she had at the beginning of this conversation. "You're the smart one, Wise Girl."

Annabeth's POV:

I was still angry when Percy told me that Rachel meant nothing to him. He had then told me to figure out why Rachel would hate me on my own. It shouldn't be too hard right? But I was still angry. It was harder to think when I was angry. "Yeah, I know I'm the smart one, because my head isn't full of kelp!" I yelled at him. He looked a little hurt when I had said it, but he got over it quickly.

He looked like he cared, his intense green eyes looked worried. I finally figured out why Rachel hated me. It must have shown on my face because Percy then gently put his hand on top of mine. All my anger at him vanished with his touch. When I had finally gotten the courage to look back at him, his hand was gone. I found his hand again and slid my own into it. He held my hand and smiled. "Does that mean you like me too?"

I didn't answer in words, but I did smile back at him… and then I kissed him. I put my free hand on his chest, while he put his on the back of my neck. I let go of his hand and slid my own over his shoulders and entwined my fingers into his hair, holding him close to me. His arms found their way around my waist, also holding me against him.

At that moment I was glad we were in the Poseidon cabin. (The cabin that Percy and his half-brother Tyson share.) If we were anywhere else, I wouldn't be sharing this moment with Percy.

Percy's POV:

I could feel Annabeth's fingers in my hair, holding me close to her. I wrapped my arms around her waist, and closed my eyes. Then I thought of something; how much alone time did Annabeth and I have left? Thinking of that, I loosened my grip around her waist and she held me tighter. I took the hint retightened my hold on her.

She let go of me when we heard footsteps outside the door. Before the door opened, I sat on my bed, while Annabeth walked to the other side of the room. I thought about Claire Ashram. I know I was just kissing Annabeth Chase, but I wondered if she had carried out the message and how long it would take her and the other Archers to get here. I also thought about if they ran into the Hunters and brought them here. Is Thalia doing okay? "Percy? What're you thinking about?" I heard Annabeth say. I shook my head to get the thoughts racing in my head out.

"What ever happened to Seaweed Brain? The one with the head full of kelp?" I said, chuckling a little when I was done speaking. Annabeth laughed a little too.

"Okay, what were you thinking about, Seaweed Brain?" She teased. I laughed full out then, and so did she.

Annabeth's POV:

We were laughing when we heard a knock on the door. Neither of us answered it immediately. I didn't want Percy's laugh to stop. His laugh sounded like the soft lap of waves against the beach, and being the son of Poseidon, that made sense.

Then the person at the door knocked again, this time louder and more urgent. We stopped laughing and Percy answered the door. "Oh, uh, Claire. Hi." I heard him say. "The others are here as well? Come in, come in." He moved out of the way to let her into he cabin.

I took one look at her and decided that I didn't like her at all. She must have been either an Apollo or an Aphrodite kid, because she was really pretty, and she probably didn't wear make-up. Her blonde hair reached her shoulders, and she had light purple eyes. Her eyes were also light blue or silver depending on how you looked at them. She was wearing robes you would expect to see on a Hunter, though being an Archer, it probably didn't matter much.

Claire's intense stare was hypnotizing, when her hair blew in the breeze she looked like a spirit that had been sent from Aphrodite just to mess with Percy's feelings for me, and mine for him. I couldn't let her waver my feelings. When they're done talking I'll kick her out.

"Hello Percy. What was the problem that you spoke of in my dream?" She asked curiously. Percy's face turned to stone, expressionless. "Take a seat." He said. It looked as if this was going to take a while. Claire took a seat a little too close to Percy for my liking, so I sat on his lap, and put my head on his shoulder. He didn't make any attempts to get me off of him; he actually put one of his hands on my waist while the other took one of my own.

I smiled at the look of jealousy on Claire's face as she moved a little closer to him, and he didn't seem to notice, other then the uncomfortable glint I saw in his eyes. Perfect. I thought. He was mine, and no one was take him from me. I was sure of that.

Percy looked serious, like this was a life or death situation, as it probably was. "Claire, a war is coming. Lu—Kronos. Kronos and his army are going to invade camp. There is going to be a war, and we need help. Would you guys—the Archers, of course—be willing to help us?"

Claire shook her beautiful head. "Perseus," She paused when Percy flinched at the sound of his real name, "Percy, I'm not the you should be talking to when it comes down to this matter."

Then I spoke. "If we're not supposed to talk you, whom are we supposed to talk to?" I said that a little angrily and I took my head off Percy's shoulder.

She glared at me and said, "My leader, obviously! Who did you think?" I glared back at her. "I thought that you were the leader! Who was I supposed to think was the leader? You were the one who showed up on Percy's doorstep!" Shouting, I got up and balled my hands into fists. As I did this, Claire scooted a little closer to him. He leaned away from her a little bit as she did so, looking really uncomfortable.

I took a step towards her, a warning saying that if she didn't give Percy some space, I was going to hit her hard. But apparently she didn't get the message. She moved even closer to Percy, so close that their shoulders were touching. He must have felt really uncomfortable or something because he got up and stood by me.

Claire's POV:

When I was just about to bust a move, Percy got up and stood by the blonde haired girl. I wasn't going to give up now. He was too hot. I may have been an Archer, but I was a daughter of Aphrodite. I was only good at archery because my grandpa was Apollo, so Percy was wrong about my parentage.

I stood up as well. When I did Percy kindly said, "Claire, I'm sure you had a long and hard journey. Maybe you should sit down." I shook my head and took another step forward. "I'm fine. Walking around is better for my muscles." He looked uncertain, like he didn't think that walking was better for me. He really was a sweet boy.

He was shifting his weight from foot to foot nervously, stealing a glance at the blonde girl every once in a while. No one spoke for quite a while, so I decided to liven it up a bit. "Percy, who are we fighting against?" I asked innocently, but the blonde seemed to look right through me.

Annabeth's POV:

The girl who Percy called Claire looked so sweet and innocent when she said, "Percy, who are we fighting against?" That anyone who wasn't a half-blood would have thought she was a three-year-old asking her dad to get her a teddy bear.

Glaring at her, I said, "We don't know yet, but we do know that there's going to be a lot of enemies." I laced my fingers into Percy's, an indication to Claire that he was taken. And then she did the unthinkable; she grabbed Percy's upper arms, and before he could protest, she kissed him.

I stared at her in shock, and them at him. His eyes were wide with what seemed like a mixture of shock, fear, and something else. But what was that something else? Was it happiness? Was it Joy? No, it was confusion. Then why wasn't he trying to pull away?

Claire's POV:

I was talking to Percy about who we were fighting, and the blonde decides to butt in and explain the obvious. 'We don't know'. I got even more irritated when she held his hand. Even when she did so, he looked deadly serious. Which made me think, would he look so serious if someone kissed him? I doubted the blonde girl would, and so that thought caused me to do the unthinkable. It was unthinkable, but I enjoyed it. He didn't seem so pleased though.

Percy's POV:

So, Annabeth, Claire, and I were talking about the upcoming battle, when Claire did something that took me by surprise and literally knocked me off my feet. While I was holding Annabeth's hand, Claire came up, grabbed me by my arms, and… she kissed me.

I looked at her, with all the expressions I was feeling show in my eyes. Let my eyes show how shocked and scared I felt. I let them show how confused I was.

Annabeth must have seen the look in my eyes, because she quickly got over her own shock and tried to help me pry Claire off of me. When Claire was done, all she had to say was… "Sorry."

Annabeth's POV:

"Sorry." Was all Claire had to say after practically snogging Percy to death? That was supposed to be my job!

"What do you mean, 'sorry'? That was completely uncalled for! Who do you think you are, Claire? How stupid are you to not notice the hints that he was taken?" I yelled at her. Percy was dumb founded.

"Wait, what? What do you mean 'taken'? I'm not an inanimate object!" Percy calmly said, holding his hands in a 'what-are-you-talking-about?' position. I shook my head again. He certainly was cute when he was confused.

"I didn't mean it like that." I said, "It means that you're already with someone." While I was laughing at his confusion, I heard him say something that sounded like, "Okay."

"Okay then. It was just so serious in here that I thought I'd liven it up a bit." Claire said in a bored voice. I remember mumbling something like "Stupid daughter of Aphrodite." before finding myself lying on the ground, a dagger at my throat.

"What did you just say?" Claire growled in my ear.

"I called you stupid." I said as calmly as I could, knowing that Percy would be threatening Claire with Riptide any second now. And right on cue, he did.

"Claire, I am sure that you should release Annabeth before anything bad happens. I'm also sure that Aphrodite wouldn't be too pleased with you for killing Annabeth." Percy whispered into her ear, his sword at her neck.

Claire's POV:

"Stupid daughter of Aphrodite." The blonde girl mumbled, and without thinking, I shoved her to the floor and put my dagger to her throat. "What did you just say?" I growled at her.

"She showed no emotion as she calmly said, "I called you stupid." She said. At that very moment a sword was pointed at my throat. "Claire, I am sure that you should release Annabeth before anything bad happens. I'm also sure that Aphrodite wouldn't be too pleased with you for killing Annabeth." I heard Percy whispered in my ear.

I slowly sheathed my dagger and put my hands up. Percy capped his pen/sword thing and put it into the pocket of his shorts. As he did so, I walked to the other side of the room. The girl Annabeth then got up and walked next to Percy. Tears were ever so slowly filling her eyes. They fell silently down her face when she was in Percy's arms.

This is stupid. I thought as I walked out the door. Oh how I wished I was in Percy's arms rather than Annabelle, or whatever her name was. Jealousy rising and bubbling inside me, I walked over to the camp the other Archers had made while I spoke with Percy.

I saw a figure sitting next to the fire and instantly recognized him. "Hi Malcolm." I said, sitting down next to him. He looked at me with his pale blue eyes. "Hi. So how'd the talk with Percy go? Does he need to talk to Millie?"

I shook my head. "I don't know, maybe she should go anyway. I don't think the talk went very well on my part. Athena kids are such wimps, they've got big mouths to."

He looked at me with confusion in his eyes. "Why do you say that? I thought Percy was Poseidon's son!"