One: Ψ I Learn That Blind Ladies Aren't So NiceΨ

If you reading this because you may think your a half-

Haha, Sike! Sorry to break this to you, folks but this isn't my Dad's story it's mine. So buckle up and sit tight because it's gonna be a bumpy ride. Anywho, my full name is Arianne Silena Jackson. I'm fourteen years old almost fifthteen. I know what your thinking. Where have I heard that last name from? Well I'm the daughter of Percy and Annabeth Jackson. Ring any bells? Thought so.

If your new to this whole halfblood type deal then listen closely because I I don't have much time. You can't let this book get into anyone's hands but your own. Deal? Great then that means I can start. Well half-bloods are a mixed species of a greek god and a human. You see when a god and a human love eachother very much they make a half-blood. I'm really not new to this whole half-blood deal quite honestly. Most are. But I was born knowing I was a half-blood because well... my parents were. My dad was a son of Poseidon god of the sea and my mom was a daughter of Athena the goddess of wisdom. Weird mix huh? Since basically Posiedon and Athena have this type of rivalry.

Well my story started out with a blind lady that turned out to be kinda a jerk. Look, I'm not a New Yorker. I was born in New Rome and well my parents and I spent our time here to visit my grandma Sally. And that's where my dad grew up. I guess you could call it a bit of a vacation. Though my mother lived in San Fransisco which I would have perferred much more. Besides I was used to boiling hot weather, I lived in New Rome so you could say I'm used to it and not the cold damp weather of New York. But it's summer which means it's warmer than usual. Go figure.

Welcome to my world.

ΨΨΨ

The glowing embers leaped and twirled in a firery dance, twinkling like stars in the hot swirling air before cascading to earth like gleeful fire fiends, setting alight the tinder dry forest of high August. The nascent fire played amid the kindling like a child with a new toy, it's flames leaping in excitement, it's quiet crackling like so much giggling in the woods. I couldn't breathe. My thoughts grew boiling and splintered. I kept my mouth sealed shut as I ran through loops holes. My best way of escaping a dead end that would be a wall of chest spasmed as my lungs yearned for fresh air where there was none. My heart beat echoed in my ears slowing under the flames and smoke. The slow thud of my heart became even more distance and I could feel even more slow and groggy. Whenever I tried to make my arms move I couldn't convince them to. My chest jumped as if it would trick me into inhaling. I couldn't keep holding my breathe or I would think my lungs would exploade. My knees bucked and something wrapped around my torso...

I jolted upright in bed, gasping, and a hand over my heart. I fell back into my covers limp with releif. I was no longer in my nightmare. The same nightmare I have had for months now. It always repeated the same way. The smoke filling my lungs and making me fall into an oblivion. As I layed there staring at my ceiling trying to convince me from beleiving I was still in my dream.

"Ari, wake up breakfest is waiting for you!" My dad's muffled voice called form the kitchen. I was tempted to call back and say who dares to awake Arianne from her slumber! But I suppose that would be childish.

Look, I didn't want to stay in New York. At all. I mean, the only reason I agreed to visit New York with my parents even though if I refused they would drag me here anyway. But the only reason I wanted to visit my dad's hometown was because my Grandma Sally lives here and that's really the only reason we are staying here.

I guess it's because I'm so used to staying in a safe haven for demigods like me, known as New Rome and New York basically shouts MONSTERS LIVE HERE ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK LOL JUST KIDDING YOU'LL DIE ANYWAY. Especially since, I'm the daughter of both demigods. Not many demigods live so long. But my parents happened to. They usually die young from monsters or war. It usually depends on what it is. My parents are still going on with their lives with no major distractions. I suppose that's why most go to New Rome to live the rest of their lives.

Coming here I definatly felt unsafe and not apart of my agenda because, well, my dad is a son of Poseidon and my mom is a daughter of Athena. Which means I have a stronger smell since I have the stench of a big three and another demigod. To monsters I'm like a cheesburger that strongly smells of demigod.

About sixty years ago, after World War II, the Big Three (Zeus, Posiedon and Hades) agreed they wouldn't sire any more heroes. Their children were just too powerful. They were affecting the course of human events too much, causing too much carnage. World War II, you know, that was basically a fight between the sons of Zeus and Poseidon on one side, and the sons of Hades on the other. The winning side, Zeus and Poseidon, made Hades swear an oath with them: no more affairs with mortal women. They all swore on the River Styx.

So that's why to monsters I seem like a giant lifesize cheesburger.

I reluctantly hauled myself out of the covers. I had expected to wake up to the smell of home. But instead just a foreign apartment that I had never grew up in live my cozy home in New Rome, and this morning I didn't wake up to my familiar words of my day calling "training time." Instead it was the call of breakfast.

As a demigod I need to protect myself from monsters or else it all goes haywire. Monsters usually disguise themselves as innocent mortals and usually when they attack. No one around can really help you because they can't see through the mist.

The Mist is a supernatural force controlled by the goddess Hecate that twists a mortal's sight from seeing monsters, Gods, Titans, and various other mythical creatures and supernatural occurrences by replacing them with things the mortal mind knows about and can comprehend.

Snaking my way out of bed, I felt the compulsion to bury myself right back in. The morning air inside my room was too cold I could feel my teeth starting to chatter like rattling cottage windowpanes in a storm.

"Arianne!" My mother calls this time.

"I'm awake!" I call back after a mere groan. I blinked, closed my eyes, and blinked again. Streaks of sunlight penetrated the window and blinded me. I sat up, dragged my feet off the bed, and rubbed my knuckles onto my eyes. I stretched my arms above my head and yawned as I watched my legs dangle above the off-white polyester carpet.

I slowly glanced around my room. Well it wasn't exactly like my old room. I had a plain white comforter unlike the cute fish one I had at home. Giving myself a pep talk to get up I finally did and walked out the door of my room still wearing my pajamas, of course, since I had just woken up.

"Good morning, Ari." My mother greeted. Though she looked busy leaning over a frying pan with scrambled eggs, sprinkling pepper and salt in slathers.

"That's alot of salt and pepper." I noted.

She pushed back a lock of honey blonde hair and noticed it herself. "Oh your right..." she said slowly, she pulled another curl away with a frustrated sigh. She had to much hair in her face to ntoice. She was always busy, studying archetecture since that was her job, after all. If it wasn't for bacon she could have envisaged being a vegetarian. Even it's greasiness was perfection to her. Those rashers sizzling in their own fat under the grill, filling the house with a smell that had her salivating in seconds. She buttered the bread and waited with hungry eyes on the grill, waiting for the bacon to be crispy. It had to be crispy. My mom couldn't handle not having bacon. Raising an eyebrow I didn't question her at all.

I noticed my Dad at the table squinting at a newspaper. He had a hard time reading it. I didn't blame him though. All demigods had ADHD and dyslexia. Dyslexia because our minds were hardwired to read Ancient Greek. And the ADHD? It helped us on the battle field.

In front of him her munched on a pile of blue pancakes.

"Your breakfest is on the table, Arianne." My Mom said with a warm smile and I returned it with my own.

I sluggishly walked to my place at the table, note my tiredness. The apartment was cheap, so my Mother took a job here just for a few months. I didn't know if I could handle being in a monster infested place for much longer. I was used to be so protected. I never had actually seen a monster up close. All that training I had gotten taught by my Dad, I wasn't actually ready for to fight a monster with.

"You planning on going into the city today?" My Dad asked putting down the newspaper as a put another hunk of blue pancake into his mouth. He observed me with a smirk as I sat down. His signature smirk my Mom called it. Cutting my blue pancakes into seperate peices. Okay your probably wondering why my Dad and I eat so much blue stuff. Uh, It's kind of a long story. It's our favorite color basically. That's the short way of explaining it.

My Mom had normal pancakes. Because normal is boring.

"I'm, uh, not feeling so well." I lied, pouring syrup onto my breakfast. My Mom looked up from her masterpiece of scrambled eggs.

"You always use that excuse, dear. It's not that bad. Besides I gave you a knife to protect yourself remember?"

I have to say I'm not very good with a knife, I'm more used to a sword. I could probably die in seconds without one.

"I guess..."

My Dad's sea green eyes narrowed, concentrated. "Arianne, you need to get out a little more. You have been training for most of your life, you'll be fine." He assured me.

I wasn't very convinced but I nodded anyways, stirring a peice of blue pancake in a pile full of syrup. I was known for playing with food when I was nervous. That was the truth anyways.

Dad got up form his chair and ruffled my pale hair with a wide crooked smile. "You'll be fine Little Ari."

Even though my Dad was in his thirties, he still managed to be chilidish. Alot like me in fact.

My hair was blonde like my Mom's but it was different from hers, it was a platnium color. Which I wasn't too sure how I got. My Dad went over to my Mom and wrapped his arms around her giving her a quick kiss on the forehead.

I smiled at them both, turning my head to perr out the window, it had a view of the city. There was lots of fog. It swooped in and skirted around the buildings and the trees, like a giant eraser moving indiscriminately to eradicate what was once there into something that's not. I was even more intimidated. The place just called out monsters. Dad and Mom always told me about the monsters they fought as kids, and I wasn't too inspired to meet them. Since sometimes they almost died fighting them.

I found my parents love story intresting. They fell for eachother as teenagers. Going on quests to save Camp Half-Blood. I always pondered on what the Camp looked like. I never actually wanted to go at all. There I wouldn't be with my parents. Some kids had to stay there for summers and summers. I guess I'm just lucky not one of my parents are a God. Though my grandparents that's another story.

My Mom pulled away to face me, her story grey eyes filling with warmth.

"Ari, go on and be safe."

I gave her a nervous look. "You sure?"

She nodded and then my Dad spoke. "Be back by sunset, alright?"

I nodded, I needed to get over this fear. My Dad had always taught me who was a monsters and who wasn't. I think I would be good, if I was cautious. I could tell my Mom was nervous too but didn't say anything about it.

ΨΨΨ

The streetlamps were lit, throwing garish pools of orange onto the sandy sidewalks. I was too paranoid to take the city in too well. I regretted going into the city in the first place. I should have just argued with my parents about it. I was probably going to get eaten no doubt. Especially since I'm a daughter of two demigods. Dang. I was so dead. The knife my Mom had gave me was tucked into my combat boot. Bound in leather so I don't stab my toe everytime I take a step, because trust me, that would deffinatly hurt me, no doubt. And I don't need to run away from monsters with a damaged foot.

I stopped for coffee at a local shop. I usually wasn't allowed to drink coffee because my Mom didn't want me to until I was sixteen but I'm a I went I gave everyone suspicious looks for the obvious. I even almost pulled my knife on a plump old lady, who was giving me the creeps and stares. But then she asked why I had threatened her with a pencil. So deffinatly not.

I was tall, lanky and awkward in the clump of pedastrians. So I wouldn't be suprised if a monster could sniff my from a long distance. I'm kind of the queen of awkward.

I passed through an alleyway, the short cut to Central Park

A dark figure was in the distance, ominously advancing as I walked hesitantly down the abandoned alley, impersonating my every faint movement. A flicker of the street lamp and I noticed the strange figure. The outline of a boy in dark clothing. A voice inside my head shouted monster! But the figure quickly dissapeared back into the crowd of people and out of the alleyway. I knew he was follwing me, but why? Oh that's right Arianne. He's probably a monster.

I shook my head and walked out of the alleyway and to the entrance of Central Park.

Entering the park, a slight breeze rustles the leaves making them fall to the solid ground one by air was warm, the beams of sunlight glowing on my skin. Flowers are vast, and they conceal the freshly cut green grass. The pathway is nothing more than dirt littered with random rocks.

I sat down next a woman with dark clothing, a sash rapped around her head and hair, and pair of tinted sunglasses.

"Hello." The woman greeted, not turning to look at me, but straight ahead. She had an accent, Middle Eastern.

"Uh, Hi." I said slowly, wondering if I should be suspicious or not.

She stiffened as I spoke, sniffing the air. "Ah, dear. Your lucky you can see this beautiful day." She beamed, tapping her wrinkly hands on the arm of the bench.

"Your blind?" I asked curiously. She nodded in answer. I imediatly felt bad. I couldn't imagine ever being blind. Not knowing what the people you talk to look like. On a leash next to her was a small yorkie dog wearing a vest. Then I knew it was her eye seeing dog.

"It's only me and Snickerdoodle" She said sadly reaching down to pat the yorkie softly. "Ever since my two sisters left me, I have been so alone."

"Oh..." I said stupidly.

"Now, child what is your name?" she asked curiously, it striked me as odd that she knew I was young. Maybe it was my voice?

"A bad woman was jealous of me long ago. When I was young I had a lover. That bad woman wanted to tear us apart. She caused me a heartbreaking accident."

I reconigzed something odd about it, but didn't put my finger on it.

"I should probably go..." I said catiously, sitting up.

"No, child!" She screeched, grabbing my wirst. My eyes widened in horror, as I noticed she was taking off her glasses I quickly looked away. She was deffinatly not blind and she was deffinatly not human.