Okay, I know you're super happy that I'm posting this, but really I'm only doing it because I've been raking through the mess of "fanfics" the authors have the nerve of calling Percy Jackson fanfictions and I'm just really disturbed.

I'm disappointed, truly. And not just in the eye-sore grammar. (I mean, seriously? Putting a period in dialogue THEN starting with "Said" or "She/He" after it? And really, character names start with a CAPITAL letter. Oh, and, when a new person talks, use the enter button. It's your best friend. Read an actual book sometime.) It's the Mary-Sue's/Gary-Stu's, the pointless plots, and the horrible matches. I've been seeing too much Perlia, Perchel (please), Lukabeth, and Thuke for my taste.

Breathe. Apologies. Just bored and upset that I'm being forced to endure seven and a half hours of extreme torture tomorrow. Seriously world, just because you call it school and "reward" us with A's doesn't mean we actually pay attention. Love, students everywhere.

I mean, most of the kids in my school have trained themselves to sleep with their eyes open just to escape the torment of our crazy Algebra teachers. (Props to them, by the way.)

Okay, I'm done now. Sorry for forcing you to listen to those rants. Now, go ahead and start reading. I'll save the rest for the end of the chapter.

2/

Percy's POV

"Finally," Lily groaned as we crossed the boundary line. I agreed silently.

"Hey, Percy!" someone called from a tree.

"Hey, Travis!" I called back.

"Lily, I gotta go to the Apollo cabin for that…uh, thing," Madyson said tentatively. "You know where to take him, right?"

"Yeah, I got briefed before we left," she answered. Madyson walked off to Cabin Seven. "Come on, Percy." She led me toward the Big House.

"Why are we going to the Big House?" I asked. "I'm not a newbie; can't I just go off on my own?"

"Not this time," Lily said grimly. "I didn't tell you the reason Alice sent us to get you."

"I'm guessing you're going to," I said.

"A new girl showed up," she said finally, but the way she said gave me the sense that that was a big deal.

"What's wrong with her?" I asked.

"You'll see," was all I got out of her.

We were just outside the infirmary now. I heard voices coming from inside. I recognized one as Ophelia Warring, daughter of Ares, but the other I had never heard before. Lily pushed open the door.

Sure enough, Ophelia was sitting in a chair, casually picking mud out from under her fingernails with a large knife. A girl who must have been new was sitting across from her, looking the other way so I couldn't see her face.

Ophelia looked up when we came in; so did the girl. I took a step back, right into Lily, who flashed me a dirty look. The girl looked almost exactly like Anastasia Chaldean.

"Holy crap," I muttered.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about," Alice said, walking into the room. "Percy, this is Tatiana Taylor, Anastasia's—" her face tightened at the name "—sister."

"Hallelujah," Ophelia said, spitting on her blade.

Tatiana looked so much like Anastasia they could've passed for twins. The only differences were their eyes and hair. Anastasia had cold, soulless black eyes and straight, glossy black hair that reached her waist. Tatiana's were brown, and her hair was curly instead of straight.

"I still don't know what I'm doing here," Tatiana said, a little scared. "And why did you cuff me to my bed?" She held up her wrist, which was attached to the side of her bed with handcuffs.

"You're a freak, kid," Ophelia said bluntly.

Tatiana blinked. "What?"

"We're not freaks," I assured her. "We're half-bloods, half mortal, half Greek god."

"We believe your mother is Hecate, goddess of magic," Alice put in.

"Is that bad?" Tatiana ventured.

"You don't know the half of it," Ophelia grinned. Tatiana looked at her funny.

"Lily, please explain everything to her," Alice said, looking tired. "Give her a tour. Ophelia, you and your siblings are assigned to watch her at all times. You know the risks." Ophelia nodded stiffly.

"Wait!" Tatiana tried to get out of bed, but forgot she was handcuffed to it. "Why am I being watched?"

"Your sister," I said. "She tried to kill us all."

Tatiana seemed confused. "I have a sister?"

"Yes," Alice answered. "Anastasia." Alice nodded at Ophelia and Lily, then beckoned me out the door.

"So…" I said as she closed it. "Spy?"

"Spy," she agreed. "That's why I have the Ares children guarding her at all times."

"Agreed," I said. We were nearing the new wing of cabins now, still under construction.

"No, Elijah, the Cretin block goes over there!" Alice called to Elijah Andrews of Cabin Nine, who was directing the building of a new obsidian cabin.

"What?" Elijah called back. "Are you serious? Then where does the Minoan block go?"

A girl wearing a red bandana lugged a slab of black rock near Elijah. "Hey, Elijah, did you need that Peloponnesian block yet?"

"No," he yelled. "Take it back to the forge. Clio, hand me the Ithacan—NO, DON'T DROP THE—!" The obsidian block shattered on the ground. A beam of black energy shot out from the pieces and promptly turned a passing girl into a tree.

Alice did a complete face-palm. "Will someone please revive Juliet?" Two girls melted from their trees, grabbed the newly-made one, and dragged it off to the Big House. "And Elijah, it's Greco, Ithacan, Minoan, and then Peloponnesian."

"Thank you," Elijah sighed. "Okay, Jake, you hand me that hammer, and don't drop it on any of the…" His voice faded as Alice and I walked away.

I looked at her. "You're building a Hecate cabin, aren't you." It wasn't a question.

My sister's shoulders seemed to sink; suddenly she looked really, really tired. "I have to. No one is particularly pleased with Tatiana's arrival, but we don't want to anger Hecate even more than we already have. Besides, if Tatiana isn't a spy, she could prove quite useful."

"I guess so," I said. "How's everything been, then?"

She sighed. "Camp grows more difficult to discipline every day. Yesterday Emily Archer cursed José Rodriguez with a limerick spell. Tony Staphili and Penelope Miller lost Cadmus an hour ago. And on Tuesday a mortal tried to get into camp by force." She ran a hand through her black hair. "Honestly, I wish we could have every demigod known back here to help. But I don't have enough Seeker teams to do that."

"Oh," I said awkwardly. "Sorry."

"It's okay, little brother. Go have fun." She gave me one last weak smile.

I shrugged. I went off to find Annabeth. Number one place to look: Cabin Six, Athena. The place looked the same as I'd last seen it. Painted barn owl above the door, bunks shoved to one side, battle maps and blueprints tacked up on the walls, kids debating the theory of Schrodinger's cat. All their expressions were the same: distracted, like they were thinking a million things at once.

Annabeth was sitting on her bunk, going through what I recognized as Daedalus's laptop. She looked up and smiled at me. "Percy, hey. I heard Lily and Madyson went to get you. What monster went after you this time?"

"Nemean lion," I told her. "It's okay, though." I sat next to her. "I have something to tell you." She put the laptop to sleep to listen. "Did you hear about the new girl?" I asked in a low voice.

Her expression flickered with interest. "No. Who?" I told her everything I knew about Tatiana Taylor—which wasn't much. But Annabeth's face grew more and more serious with every word, until her mouth was a thin line.

"What are you thinking?" I asked.

"It's just very…" She searched for the right word. "Intriguing."

I couldn't help feeling confused. "Why?"

She tapped her chin. "Well, sometime in the early 1900s, there was some royalty in Russia—four sisters. Olga, Marie, Tatiana, and Anastasia. They lived a fairly good life, up until the Russian Revolution. They were held prisoner in their palace for a few years, then they were all executed by firing squad."

"Okay…" I said slowly. "What does that have to do with us?"

She seemed thoughtful. "Maybe nothing. Maybe something. Go see Tony. I have to think." She muttered something about 'Rasputin' as I got up; by the time I walked out the door, she was scribbling on a scrap of paper hurriedly.

I shrugged that off. I headed for the Dionysus cabin to visit Tony. Instead I found his sister, Alison, sleeping on the porch steps. I decided to just step over her, but she cracked open one eye right as I got one foot on the other side of her.

"Tony's in Cabin Four," she grumbled. She rolled over and started snoring lightly.

"Okay…" I said quietly. I turned to Cabin Four: Demeter.

Katie Gardner was crouching on the roof, replanting the grass with her sister Leena's help. Brian Bush was pulling weeds from the small garden beside the cabin, while another Demeter kid (Eric, I think) watered the walls. I snuck through the door when they weren't looking.

I'd never been inside the Demeter cabin before. The floor was a thick layer of grass. The walls were twined with flowers and tomato vines. Plants covered every surface. A moss-covered stone fountain trickled water happily. For a second I was puzzled at the lack of bunks, but then I realized they were hammocks woven right into the walls, made of live green grass and flowers. They were all empty—except for one.

I went over to wake Tony, who was sleeping soundly in one of the bunks at the left wall, but I found he wasn't alone. Cradled against his chest was Penelope Miller, who was holding Cadmus in the crook of her arm. I stared at them for a second. They looked so peaceful they could've passed for a family.

I'm no son of Hades, but I swear on the River Styx that as I looked around, I spotted a girl standing in the corner, watching Tony and Penelope with dead eyes. Her skin was deathly white, like paper. Her body held no life. She was hugging herself, like she was trying to get warm, and when she exhaled, her breath was a cloud of icy vapor.

She didn't see me, and I pretended not to see her, though her presence scared the hell out of me.

Cadmus giggled in his sleep, pulling my attention to him. He opened one clear eye to look at me, then grinned and reached up one little fat fist. I pressed a finger to my lips, deciding to leave Tony and Penelope alone. I slipped out of the cabin.

Katie, who was still on the roof, paused in her planting to watch me leave with suspicious brown eyes. I drew a P in the air with my finger, mimed sleeping, and pointed inside. She seemed to understand, even though I didn't explain the whole truth. Katie didn't need to know Tony was sleeping with Penelope. Demeter kids weren't so welcoming toward Dionysus ones, especially Tony.

Alison sat up groggily as I came closer to her cabin. "Where's Tony, then?" She didn't sound so happy that I woke her up for nothing.

"Sleeping," I said. I sat next to her. She eyed me with violet eyes, suspicious. I never talked to her before.

"What now?" she said finally. I told her about the girl I saw in the Demeter cabin, watching Tony sleep. Her face turned grim and serious. "Did she have curly brown hair?"

"You saw her too?" I almost shouted.

She kicked me. "Shh! Yes, I see her."

"Who is she?" I asked immediately. "Why can we see her?"

Alison didn't answer for a while. Her voice was quiet when she finally spoke. "Sometimes, at night, I wake up and see her watching Tony sleep. She stands right next to his bunk, and sometimes she sits next to him. He never sees her, but I always do."

"But you know who she is," I pressed.

Tony's sister seemed uncomfortable. "Yeah. Her name is Jasie. She's Tony's girlfriend."

I blinked. "What?" I tried to process that.

Alison smiled briefly. "Yeah, I know." She scooted closer, like she didn't want anyone else to hear. "Tony and Jasie were first found by a satyr named Ronnie. He figured Tony was Dionysus, and Jasie was Hermes. They were just leaving for camp when Caterina" she gulped "showed up. She killed Ronnie and Jasie. Tony got away, but he never got over Jasie. He actually saw her in the Underworld when you guys were down there last."

That jarred me. So Tony's dead girlfriend somehow made it back from the dead to watch over him? Creepy.

"I think she's angry," Alison added. "Tony's been spending a lot of time with Penelope Miller lately. Yesterday I found Cadmus's picture of her torn up in little pieces."

From what Tony told me, Cadmus always needed a picture of the other 'parent' whenever he was with one. It helped him sleep or something.

"How do we get rid of her?" I asked.

Alison reeled. "I'm not getting rid of her. I'm not risking pissing of an already angry ghost." Then she hesitated. "But…you should talk to Nico." She nodded at the Hades cabin across the agora.

"Thanks, Alison," I said. I turned to Cabin Thirteen.

It hadn't changed. Black obsidian walls, skull over the door, torches that burned with Greek fire 24/7. Nico di Angelo, the only son of Hades, wasn't always inside, but since Alice panicked about Tatiana Taylor, he was there now.

He opened the door just when I was about to knock. "Percy."

"Hey, Nico," I greeted.

He looked at me for a moment, then held open the door. "Come on in." I followed him inside. The inside was just as creepy as the outside, with a few shadow-like bunks, only one of which slept in. A faded picture was taped above it. Even without looking I knew who it was.

Nico sat on his bunk. "What's up?"

"We have a problem," I told him. He raised an eyebrow, like Another one? I explained about the girl I'd seen in the Demeter cabin, and how Alison told me to come see him. His expression went more and more puzzled with each word.

"Hm," was all he said.

"What?" I said. "Can you get rid of her?"

He shook his head. "Can't get rid of ghosts, Percy. They're always around, you just can't see them. This one—what did you say her name was…Jasie? She escaped into the world of the living to haunt Tony." His forehead wrinkled up. "I don't know how… Dad's security is pretty tight. The Walls of Erebus keep souls from going in and out unless they go directly through the gates."

"What does it mean?" I pressed.

He was quiet for a moment, thinking. "We should go see Alice."

"And you're sure about this?" Alice said again, fixing Nico with her green-eyed stare.

Nico nodded solemnly. "No mistaking it. Somehow Jasie's ghost slipped out of the Underworld, into the world of the living, and immediately went to the last thing that tied her to life."

"Tony," I said.

He nodded again. "Right. Which means there's a major hole in Dad's defenses. Not good."

Alice didn't look surprised. She cursed quietly. "The Hunt's been expecting this for a while. Honestly, I'm not surprised. We have to do something about this."

"I could talk to Dad," Nico suggested dully, sighing.

She nodded thoughtfully. "Go. Don't get killed." Nico looked like he agreed. He stepped into the shadows and melted away. Alice turned to me. "Percy, this isn't going well. If I can, I'll send a team to inspect that hole—if we have time. As soon as Nico comes back, go talk to Annabeth. If ghosts are seeping through Underworld security, then it won't be long before other things will."

Nico's POV

I honestly wasn't surprised to see my stepmother waiting for me when I appeared in the throne room. What did surprise me was that she was dressed in her spring form, with her multicolored dress and rose crown. Her eyebrow lifted as I came forward.

"Nico," she drawled. "How…predictable."

I bowed stiffly. "Queen Persephone. It's May already. Why aren't you on Olympus?"

To my surprise, Persephone's beautiful face fell. She looked away. "Lord Zeus and Mother have asked that I reside here for a few more days. I do not know why."

That was strange. Persephone was usually gone first chance she got. That's why Hades was so irritated in spring. Though she didn't like to admit it, Persephone's presence calmed him.

She sniffed suddenly. "I expect you are here to visit your father." Her lip curled in a slight sneer. She was such a hypocrite.

I had to stifle a string of Greek curses. "Yes," I said, managing not to explode. "Where is he?"

She twined her hair around her finger like always, looking bored. "Look in the judgment pavilion. I expect Shakespeare and Aeacus are quarreling again."

I nodded slowly. I gave her one last glare before shadow-traveling to the judgment pavilion. I don't know if it was just my imagination or not, but for a second I thought I saw my proud stepmother's face crumple in sadness before darkness wrapped itself around me. Persephone wasn't a goddess who showed emotion outside the world of the living, especially to me (since I was living proof her husband was a cheater), but I felt sorry for her. But not too sorry.

"Please, Lord Hades!" I recognized Shakespeare's voice immediately. "This knave has the nerve to insult mine arts!"

"Oh, go to the crows!" Aeacus. "Thine arts are nothing compared to that of Aristotle."

There they go again. Aeacus and Shakespeare have been fighting for eternity, I swear. I liked Shakespeare. He was pretty cool. Sometimes, when I'm actually down here in this hellhole, he reads me his own stuff. He's kind of narcissistic about his writing, but don't say that to him or you'll have to deal with lots of Old English—it's what he does when he's upset.

Aeacus is another story. He's pretty pissed about being stuck as a judge for a few millennia, but it's his own fault. Rhadamanthus wasn't the one who tried to kill Sisyphus when he was already dead. Aeacus was always ripping on Shakespeare just for fun.

"Will you both SHUT UP!" Hades's voice. He was grumpy this time of year, like I said. "Aeacus, you act like a child. Switch posts with Minos. Shakespeare, take Rhadamanthus's place. Now, no more trouble out of the both of you or I will take your GHOSTLY HEADS!"

The dead guys muttered apologies and shrank back to their seats obediently. Hades sighed like he had a headache. He whirled around, probably to go back to the palace, but froze when he saw me.

"Ah, Nico," he said uncomfortably. "I did not realize you were there."

"I know," I said simply. "I have to talk to you."

He sighed in exasperation. "Nico, I do not have time for talks such as these." He started walking. That meant he wanted to talk to me; otherwise he would've blasted off in black energy.

I hurried to keep up with him, seeing my chance. "Dad, I think there's a hole in your security."

He whirled on me as soon as the words were out of my mouth. "WHAT?" he roared. "I have no holes in my Underworld!"

"Yes, you do," I argued. "A ghost escaped a while back; now it's roaming Camp Half-Blood!"

He growled wordlessly. "I will look into it," he relented finally. "But hope you are wrong, Nico." He swept his cloak around him and disappeared in a very Dracula-ish way.

"I do hope I'm wrong," I muttered. I closed my eyes, and shadow-traveled back to Camp Half-Blood.

"Whoa!" Someone had to catch me as I collapsed. Shadow-traveling sapped my energy dangerously.

"M'okay," I mumbled. "Just…" Someone dragged me to a bunk.

"Give him some ambrosia," someone else said. A square of ambrosia got shoved in my mouth. I chewed, blinked, and jumped up.

I realized I was standing in the Apollo cabin. "Sorry," I apologized. "Overshot it."

"It's okay," a girl I recognized as Kayla said. "Not like it hasn't happened before." An awkward silence settled. I decided to leave, and booked it out of there.

I bumped into Percy as I hurried out. "Oh, Nico, there you are," he said. "Come on." He grabbed my arm.

"Wait, what's going on?" I said as he dragged me toward Half-Blood Hill.

He skidded to a stop so fast I slammed into him. "That," he pointed.

I looked. Mortals were gathered at the boundary line, as usual, except now most of them (in uniforms) were crowding around something huge. I squinted. "Gods, is that a…?"

Percy's expression was grim. "Yep. That's a missile launcher."

Hm...what's happening? Are mortals really stupid enough to attack? I actually don't blame them. Most of us mortals are pretty stupid *cough*GeorgeBush*cough*. And when you think about it, people are pretty religious world-wide, so if this WAS real (which would be flipping awesome, if I say so myself), and we mortals knew about it, there'd be some pretty major chaos, as so interestingly illustrated by Project Phoenix Agent 003, who, might I add, hasn't uploaded ANYTHING in like a month (grr).

Anyway, ahem, what's going to happen? Will they end up destroying mortals like Cabin Five will probably want? Or reason with them on advice from Cabin Six? Or go down Cabin Eleven's road and just mess with them for a while?

Whatever the gang chooses will be right...Right? Come back next time to find out, kids.

~ Alice ~

P.S. If you're reading this, Alison, thanks for letting me use your name. And yes, I DO know how to really spell your name (not gonna look like a bitch there), but for simple security reasons I will not display it here. Your welcome. You're now slightly famous. Mwah. ❤