"Camp half-blood? What's that, like a donation drive?"

"Donation drive?" He started to laugh heartily, bleating at the same time. "Nah, man. Well, I can't explain it now, but let's hurry, okay? If we make it to camp in one piece, I'll explain everything to you."

"WHAT?" I stopped walking dead in the middle of the street, and he had to literally pull me out of the way of an incoming lorry. "You're gonna take me to some place I don't know where and you won't tell me WHY?"

"I can't, once you know what you are, more will attack us."

"See? More what? You're leaving out so much information, you're not telling me everything!" Impulsively, I sat down in the middle of the road. "Look, I'm not gonna move until you tell me exactly what's going on!"

He sighed in exasperation. "Alright, I'll tell you everything! Just come on!" He said as he pulled me into the safety of the pavement. Once we were shielded in the bushes, I raised an eyebrow, waiting for his explanation.

"Well, another name for a half-blood is a demigod. A child of a god and a mortal."

I looked at him confused. "So why do they want me in their camp? Do they need a maid or something?"

He sighed in frustration. "You're a half-blood, Sasha!"

I laughed. "Me. A half-blood. I don't have hoofs! How can I be a half-blood?"

"I am not a half-blood! I am a satyr!" he looked quite hurt at the hoofs comment.

"Hey man, I was just joking. By the way, I haven't got your name."

He smiled sheepishly at me. "I'm Walter. And you, Sasha, are a half-blood. We need to get you to Camp Half-Blood as soon as possible, before any more monsters arrive."

Just as he finished his sentence, a low, raspy hiss was heard from behind us. I flinched.

"Run?" I asked Walter. He nodded, face draining if colour. "Yeah... Run."


Miraculously, Walter and I made it to Camp Half-Blood without many injuries. As we staggered across a dragon guarding a glowing sheepskin, Walter promptly fainted from exhaustion. I smiled ruefully. I was thankful for the protection of the brave satyr, without him, I would be, well, toast.

"Sasha Richards?" I turned around to face a really handsome guy. Like, no joke, really handsome. He was tall, tanned and had beautiful sea green eyes and a lopsided grin. I almost blushed, then I noticed his interlacing fingers with another girl. She had long, blonde hair that reached the middle of her back, and stormy grey eyes that were threatening me not to look at her boyfriend.

"I'm Percy Jackson, camp director." I smiled, shaking his hand.

"And I am Annabeth Chase. His girlfriend." Percy rolled his eyes at her and smiled. Looking at the two of them made me feel a little sad. Deep down, I wished for someone to look at me the way that they were looking at each other.

"So, why am I here? What is this camp for? Do we grow strawberries?" I asked, motioning to the seemingly endless strawberry fields. "Are we gardeners?"

Percy laughed. "No, Sasha. These strawberries are grown to support this camp in terms of funds. They are managed by the satyrs. We half-bloods, however, train in this camp, preparing ourselves for any missions that the gods need us to attend to."

"Oh, so we're like servants of the gods?"

Percy's smile hardened a little. "We are helpers of the gods. We aid them in things that they cannot handle by themselves."

I just smiled and shrugged. If you asked me, it sounded like child labour.

"So, may I ask who is my mother?"

"How old are you?" Percy Jackson smiled at me. Man, that smile was distracting.

"I'm fourteen."

His face literally fell. Like he couldn't believe that I was fourteen.

"What's wrong with being fourteen?" I asked, rather defensively.

He looked up, his eyes brimming with disappointement. "You should have been claimed a year ago."


So after the disappointing realisation that mother didn't want me, Annabeth tried her best to keep things upbeat.

"So, Sasha, where are you from? What part if America, I mean." Annabeth said in a cheery tone.

"I live in New York." I replied. When she smiled enthusiastically at me, I started to feel sick.

"Look Annabeth, so the gods didn't want me. I'm okay with it. You don't have to act so happy."

"What makes you think that the gods don't want you? They surely have their reasons for not claiming you yet. Maybe you were in a dangerous place and knowing what you are will only attract monsters?" She reasoned. For a daughter of Athena, she was pretty naive.

"Why are you guys so intent on the fact that the gods are level-headed, kind people. From what I've studied in Greek Mythology, they are terribly selfish people who love no one more than themselves!" I practically screamed at her. The sky rumbled dangerously and Annabeth looked nervous.

"Sasha, if I were you, I wouldn't talk about the gods that way. Zeus is, uh, angry."

I looked towards the sky defiantly. "Blast me then, oh great lord of the heavens! Show us how selfish you actually are!"

As a lightning bolt of pure energy lunged towards me, I was only able to form one coherent thought. Uh-oh.


I woke up in a white room with very bright lights. I tested my fingers, flexing them slowly, alright, nothing wrong there. Feet were okay too. Only my head throbbed and I found it increasingly difficult to concentrate on anything. I vaguely made out the shape of Walter next to me. I tried to greet him, but all that came out was an anguished groan.

"Sasha! You okay?"

I nodded my head slowly. He put a glass of apple juice near my lips, and I drank hungrily, then pulled back, shocked. The apple juice looked icy cold and sweet, but it tasted like liquid langsana, just like my dad used to make, piping hot and delicious. I raised a questioning eyebrow at Walter.

"This is nectar, the drink of the gods. It's supposed to taste like home." He sighed, looking longingly at the glass.

By now, the strength had returned to my body, and my head was clear enough to sit up and offer him the glass. He quickly shook his head.

"I can't drink it, I'm a satyr, not a demigod." He said, shaking his head sadly.

I smiled sympathetically at him. "Being a demigod isn't all that great either... Apparently my mother is so ashamed of me, that she hasn't claimed me yet even though its a year past the time when she was supposed to."

It was his turn to look at me sympathetically. "Don't worry, she should claim you by tonight."

"How are you so sure?" I mumbled, wallowing in self-pity.

"You just got blasted by Zeus' lightning bolt! It's gonna be hard to ignore you!" He started to laugh at me.

I lunged for him cheekily and managed to jab him several times in the ribs.

"Ahaha! Ah-Okay okay stop! I'm sorry!" I smiled, then stopped jabbing at him. He smiled back at me. "Let's go for dinner."


The dinner pavilion was huge, and campers of all shapes and sizes packed the place. I sat with the Hermes cabin, being the only unclaimed in the entire camp. As we were talking, I caught the Hermes campers trying to steal my wallet over and over again. I laughed and pushed them away playfully. I really didn't mind staying in the Hermes cabin, they were the most down-to-earth and laid back people in camp. But my godly parent couldn't be Hermes, I mean, I have a dad. So, lets just say that it'll be a shock if I had two dads.

"Hey Sasha! We have to give the food offerings to the gods!" I heard one of the two head counsellors, Conor Stoll. Most cabins only had one head counsellor, but Conor and Travis were like two parts of the same person. Of course, Percy Jackson had to let both of them be head counsellor. Or at least according to them. Conor and Travis had updated me about all happenings in camp, from the lifting of punishment from Dionysus' shoulders to the retirement of Chiron to the appointment of Percy Jackson. Although they tried to steal my instant noodles several times during the stories, I was still appreciative of them helping me settle in.

"Coming!" I called, wrinkling my nose at the campers pouring portions of their food into the fire. "Why are we burning food?"

Travis shrugged. "The gods like the smell." I wrinkled my nose again. How good could burnt food smell? Then, I caught a whiff of it. I immediately smiled with pleasure. It smelt of roast beef, potatoes, salmon, grilled chicken and every other delicious hot food. Conor nodded knowingly at me. "You'd better give Zeus a bigger offering, you really pissed him off today."

I set my jaw and scraped about half of my food into the fire. Okay Zeus, I thought, so I'm sorry for disrespecting you and all... Uh, could you get my mum to claim me, please? Thanks in advance.

I finished up my offering and walked back to the table, when I heard a gasp. I turned around to see Conor and Travis looking at me wide-eyed. Then I saw Annabeth looking at me with undisguised horror. I looked at her questioningly, and she pointed to a space above my head. When I looked up, the floating red sign caught my attention. It was already disappearing, but more people started staring disbelievingly at me.

No. Way. I thought, disbelief rising in my own chest.

ATHENA?!