Chapter 1

Percy

I woke up covered in grass and slowly rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. The world around me was bathed in a soft, warm light and it was hot like I was inside an oven. I sat up slowly and surveyed the landscape. It was unrecognizable: just a typical clearing in the middle of the woods. I stood up, and looked down. I was covered in dirt, probably from my little sleep on the ground and wearing a neon orange tee shirt. It was murder on my newly awoken eyes.

Then, suddenly, I realized something. I couldn't remember my last name. Yeah that's right: my own last name! My god, after all I'd been through! Wait a second, what had I been through? It was pretty much infuriating. Sure, I'd never been the brightest bulb, but still, I wasn't a two-year-old. So there I was, in the middle of the forest without any idea of who, where, and what I was, and I decided to start walking. Typical Percy behavior: I'm pretty sure ADHD isn't my only problem.

I moved through the trees with a smile. It was relaxing hearing my Reeboks crunching over the newly fallen leaves and it gave me time to think about what exactly I didn't know. I kept walking, traveling North, keeping track with only the sun and the shadows. For all I knew I could have been traveling alongside the road, but it was nice to know I was getting somewhere.

I had been walking for a few hours when I came to another gap in the trees: this time it was a lot bigger. Trees the size of redwoods covered the landscape and pine needles riddled the ground. I stopped to catch my breath and in that split second I was surrounded.

No not by wolves, by kids, most of them younger than me, all wearing the kind of armor you see in movies and wielding swords of some metal I didn't know. I raised my arms in defeat. I mean, seriously, what was I supposed to do? The kid in the front, was shaking I was so much bigger than him, but he kept his voice his steady.

"Announce yourself!"

"Um…" I looked around at the crowd. What were they expecting? A speech? "My name is… Percy…"
They looked at me expectantly.

"And?" said a girl. She had to be the oldest, even though she looked a little younger than me, and her storm gray eyes shimmered with what seemed to be a mixture of wisdom and strength.

"Ummm…." I shrugged and tilted my head to the side, trying to think of some Percy fun fact, "That's pretty much all I got."
The girl growled and stepped toward me, brandishing her sword, "You impotent twerp!"
I was pretty sure she was gonna kill me right then and there, and I could tell the little boy in front thought so too, because he was shaking in his boots, but then, thank the gods, someone blew a horn. The girl stepped back and fell in line with the others, still seething with anger and staring a hole through my chest.

That's when I realized that the gray-eyed girl was definitely not the least of my worries, because coming toward me was a she-wolf. (Don't ask me how I knew it was a girl, I just knew ok?) Her hair was light gray and shining, as if the thing brushed her coat in the morning, and her eyes were human. And when I say human, I seriously mean human. It was creepy how real they were. She padded her way toward me and looked in my eyes. She gave me the first impression that she was like a yoga teacher, one of those who tries to get relaxed by saying "Ohm" every five seconds, but it seemed more real. Like she wasn't trying too hard. She just gave off that aura.

" You are a Greek," she said, with an air of contemptment. A wolf thinks she's better than me? I don't think so.

"You're a wolf." She raised her eyebrows. I guess she'd never been disrespected. Well, wolf, meet your new friend, Percy.

The gray-eyed girl still looked like she wanted to punch me in the face, but her eyes seemed a little softer now, more calculating, as if she was regarding exactly how I would taste in her dinner. As soon as she caught me looking, she started up that glare again. It made me want to burst out laughing, even though Lupa and a senior counselor were off to the side probably discussing the best way to kill me. Boy, if Annabeth ever acted like that I… wait, Annabeth? I shook my head. No use getting more confused than I already was by remembering.

"Well Greek," said the wolf, "Get comfortable, because you will be staying for a while."
"What!" the gray-eyed girl cried, "I'm not sleeping in the same area as that idiot. He'll probably trip over something and kill me!"

"Reyna…" the wolf calmly interrupted her tirade, "My dear, you must seriously consider yoga. Maybe it'll make you more at peace."

Reyna glared at the wolf and shook her head, but she seemed to have been put in her place.

"I'll show you to your cabin, Greek."

"Can't someone else…?"

"Come on. Greek! Move!"

"I want someone else to show me around, girl!"

A younger girl stepped out of the crowd, "I'll…"
"No!" she screeched, "He's mine!"
Wow, this girl had problems. I felt like I was watching a Lord of the Rings re-run where Reyna was Gollum and I was the ring. Thank the gods, the wolf stepped in, yet again probably saving my life.

"Reyna?"

I tugged my arm out of her iron grip, as she took a deep breath and excused herself from the clearing.

"Gwendolyn… would you mind?"
"Not at all!"

See, now this girl was more my style. She was happy and spunky and a full out charmer. Need less to say, I liked her a lot. But once we were alone the fun turned off pretty quick, and she started looking a lot less inviting. She turned toward me, her pixy cut illuminating her petite frame and high cheek bones.

"What were you thinking back there?"

"What?"
"I said, what were you thinking? You made a complete fool of yourself in front of every stinking person at camp. How are you supposed to fit in now?"
"Umm…"

"Uggh!" she cried, "You are such an idiot!"

"Look, I'm sorry. I don't know who I am or why I'm here, and I most definitely don't like the way you're talking to me!"
She took a deep breath, "Sorry."
"Yah."

She didn't meet my eyes as she continued, "It's just, I was really hoping you would be the one to help Reyna… well, I don't know. I guess it was kind of a stupid idea in the first place, but anyway…" she paused for a moment, "All I want is for you to try to get along with Reyna. She can be a really nice girl if you just let her."
"Yah," I smiled, "That's really going to work out, huh?"

"Just give her a shot. Besides, you're cute and knowing Reyna…"

My stomach squirmed and I must have been blushing because she laughed.

"Hey, what's your name again… Perry?"
"Percy… and you're Gwen right?"
She nodded, "Nice talking to you Percy. Dinner's at 6:00 and your schedule will be posted in the Mercury cabin by morning."

I nodded, she jogged away, and I headed for the Mercury cabin which was perched on the edge of a round lake, crammed side-by-side with the others. The cabin was small and crammed with kids, so many that there were mats laid out on the floor for the residual. I noticed though, that one bunk was left open, so I set my stuff down and sank onto the mattress.

It took about a minute before I noticed the stares and turned around.

"What are you doing, Greek?" said a tall sandy-haired boy. I guess the word had gotten around about me.

"What are you talking about?"

"Someone died in that bed."
"Ok…"
"And you don't care?" he looked shocked.

"Why would I? God rest his soul, but we should use up every bunk we have. It's like water. Would you not drink your last jug just because a man who died drank out of it too? No."

The boy was still staring at me, but I just shrugged it off. I'd been stared at too many times to count and I was well used to it.