Chapter 2: A Son of Hephaestus Thinks We're Crazy

I'll skip the boring ride on the winged horse creature. Soon we were at some strawberry field on Long Island. A huge pine tree sat on a hill ahead.

"A dragon!" Alex said excitedly, pointing at a giant lizard creature curled around the tree.

"That's Peleus." Annabeth laughed, "We got him a few summers ago. He's here to protect the borders and the tree. It's a long story."

"Annabeth!"

We all turned around to see who shouted. A boy with reddish-brown hair scampered up the hill to meet us. His eyes were wide and he looked to Annabeth for an explanation.

"Annabeth! Who are these people? Do you know their parentage? Is the one with light brown hair single?" He asked.

I grabbed a chunk of my dark brown hair and sighed in relief. Rose blushed and twisted a piece of light brunette hair around her finger. I giggled. The crazy boy looked back at us.

"I'm Josh, son of Hephaestus." He said with his hand outstretched toward us. I looked at him oddly. "Oh, so you don't know." He smiled and looked up at Annabeth.

"You can take it from here." She said and she walked down the hill toward a rectangle of cabins.

He gave us the whole spiel. "Blah blah blah 'Greek gods are real' blah blah blah 'your godly parent' blah blah blah 'monsters' blah blah blah 'certain death' blah 'sometimes' blah blah blah blah."

Fortunately, I knew what the Greek gods were. Josh's dad, Hephaestus, was the god of metalworking and fire. I should've been all freaked out, but I just grinned.

"Cool."

Alex looked Josh up and down.

"So you're a son of Hephaestus?"

"Sure am."

Alex laughed, "We've sure got some LOW expectations."

"Hey!" Josh yelped, "My mom said I was special! She always told me I looked just like my dad. Strong, tough, hunky. All the goods."

"You know," Rose said, "Hephaestus is the only god known to be physically ugly."

Josh stared at her in horror. I guess he wasn't wondering if she was single anymore. I looked to Alex, then Rose. I burst out laughing, followed by Alex. Soon, all three of us were busting a gut while Josh stood there, speechless. Just then, a weird boy walked over to us. He started staring at Rose.

"Another son of Hephaestus, I presume." Alex smirked.

"That's Joey," Josh frowned, "He's a little-,"

"In love!" squealed Joey and he flopped over and fainted on the grass.

"-odd." Josh finished.

Go figure! "Josh's got some competition." I whispered to Alex. She snickered. Rose sighed and gave a tired laugh.

"Rose and Joey sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" I sang, but Rose wasn't paying attention. She was batting at something above her head. Alex was doing the same. Josh then pointed to something above my head. I looked up and saw a blue trident thingamajig. Rose's was a lightning bolt and Alex's was a dark helmet. Josh was shivering and his hands trembled with fear.

"Daughters of the Big Three," He whispered, "That's impossible. The prophecy."

"What prophecy?" I asked.

"They must hear the prophecy." Josh murmured to himself, "And they're all girls too." He looked up. "Come with me."